Share And Share Alike
by AlexanderMugetsu
Summary: When a certain pest is running around stealing your veggies, you need to take matters into your own hands. A male human x female Pokemon story. Collab idea with Celfwrdderwydd.


Deep into the countryside, away in the fields filled with crops and herding Wooloo did a single two-storey stone house sit. A home from generations passed, it's usage rested in the sole care of one farmer, a simple fellow living his normal life of looking after his vegetable garden.

He didn't mind this much, he still lived near a village he visits regularly, and even with the lack of a living family to meet, he keeps himself sane with taking care of his lifework, a bland idea for some, but to him being out here in the open sun attending to the needs of helpless plants that would not thrive without him.

And today was a grand day to take care of his work, as the human took his first step outside his front door of this morning and into the garden he loves, he took a big whiff of the open air- after all this time, he never got sick of the smell of the natural country...even if there was a faint smell of Sheep Pokemon droppings nearby.

That didn't deter his vision of his beautiful garden he saw before him; as laid out in rows before him was his garden of vegetation. Of cucumbers and tomatoes, of pumpkins and Mustard plants to cabbages and radishes. Even a small area was sectioned off to keep only berries of Nanad, Razz and Oran and more. Surrounded on three sides by his old stone wall, trees dangled their leaves by the sides outside, like guardians that sheltered and protected his garden from the wind. To him it was his paradise, a wonderland of fresh greens that was cared for only by him.

And with a pull of his overalls he took his first step outside on this lovely day, boots hitting the ground with each step as he picked up his tools lying by his side-trowel and a watering can he neatly filed with the outdoor tap connected to a large barrel as he made sure his gloves stayed on, taking in the scene of his garden as he knelt down and tended to the vegetables needs, giving each a loving degree of care of water to keep from being dehydrated on this hot day.

"You get a sip...and you get a sip...and _you _get a sip..." It was a strangely thankful truth on Todd- that was the name of the farmer, by the way- lived by himself as it would have been awkward for all parties nearby to overhear him treat his plants like his children, especially considering he's meant to _eat _them at the end of the day. Still, he took pride in his passion as he inspected each of his vegetables with loving care, seeing each one as something special to him, like a part of his own soul was connected to each and every edible plant that grew in his private area.

"And you get a-" His baby talk to the vegetables was cut short when the human noticed something off about the singular plant. It was a carrot, seemed normal enough, but to the farmers perceptive eyes he spotted a strange incave from the top of the dug green. Slowly and carefully, he took a firm grasp of the carrot's stem and pulled the whole body out of the ground-only to become horrified at the sight before him.

Most of the carrot was eaten away, obvious to him by the bite marks coated all over the carrot; the once beautiful and delicious veggie was reduced to a half-eaten mess, losing all it's muster to be nothing more than compost- the most dreaded life a vegetable could ever end up as.

"No...no..." He whispered in absolute shock and terror at seeing a slice of his pride and joy becoming so diminished as fodder for some...uncultured beast that decided to ruin _his _veggies. He tried to keep his breathing calm and steady, already getting too loud and deep as he forcefully pushed his eyes away from the mess in his hands and instead to take a look at the rest of his garden in an attempt to see how beautiful the rest of his life work is.

It was a poor but accidental mistake on his part, as the moment he turned away from the carrot in his gloved hand he noticed this wasn't the end of the destruction of his garden- A cucumber sat sadly in the dirt after it was reduced to half its former glory, a pumpkin sat disrupted in a field as two circles of its body was eaten away, with underneath a semicircle was eaten away, showing a face that symbolizes the pumpkins reaction to this mess. All around more veggies was nibbled, ruining their own perfect image.

He won't cry, they deserved more than just his tears. The liquid that seeped from his eyes will not bring them back. They needed to have their lives remembered for their unprecedented death.

They deserved revenge!

Something moved out of his peripheral vision, and with a flick of his head he turned to see it, only to be met with just a glimpse of something disappearing from behind the stone wall. He knew not what it exactly was- but he knew it was the monstrosity that destroyed his private garden, staying nearby as if to taint him, to mock the wasted lives it so unceremoniously brought down.

_So this is how it's going to be… _He thought seriously as rested the carrot back on the ground gently, being sure to give it a proper burial, that is the compost heap, at a later date. He stood up and took a deep breath in as he suddenly hollowed his anguish to the morning air.

"I _dare _you to try again! No, I _want _you try and come and steal _my _veggies! I will hunt you down, and force you to repay your debts of eating from my garden! I care not for what manner of beast you are, or how deadly you are, be sure that I am coming for you! This is **my** garden, this is **my **land, and I do not intend to share it with the likes of company such as your sorry hide!" He ranted to the open air, the beast in question stayed out his sight, but listened in with its large ears, hearing every word but caring little to what he meant.

All it really cared about was having more of those scrumptious veggies.

Todd would not be outdone, not by some foul veggie-scoffer. His mind had already thought up a way to thwart the deeds of the dastardly creature. But he knew he the beast would not come when he is out in the open, oh no, it was easily scared of the farmers own self-described show of masculinity, it would not dare try when he will be waiting for it.

Instead, the farmer knew the correct course of action- a trap. The perfect way to catch a beast off guard. It wasn't anything special, just a simple rope attached to a board with a spring. Basic, but effective, if anything tries to gobble up his precious vegetables one more time they would be met with the business end of the plank. Todd was not in the garden itself, but stood behind the open door, peering out as he watched with Braviary eyes. His eyes leered to his garden, taking quick shots over everywhere to spot for any movements, any shadows that flickered into life-

There, as inside the garden itself he could see movement, underneath the thick layers of green leaves and shoots something was stumbling through his patch. He couldn't make out what it was, the layer of leaves from all the vegetation was too high to see, but to him each step was methodical, evil in nature and tone, as if it was trying to find the best, most delicious looking food to shove down it's selfish gob.

It was a good thing he knew what to use as bait- by the trap sat a nice looking cucumber...thick, juicy, the biggest looking cucumber in his garden. With a few sprays of his water-filled spray gun the shine it gave looked dazzling in the open sunlight. Whatever was eating through his livelihood would not able to resist the sight before it.

"Yes...yes...go on. Be tantalized by the lovely cucumber before you and...just go ahead, a number of steps more..." He could see the unknown thing making its way through the underneath layer, slow steps, a stop, then a beeline to the big cucumber in question. "Almost there...almost there..." He whispered out seeing it come closer and closer to its prize, just a few steps away-

And the rope snapped audibly!

"Got you!" He leaped from behind the cover as the trap was set off, the human letting himself be in the open to see the fruition of his hard work.

But as it turned out, Todd had failed to notice the wooden board he used was very old and water-beaten, already on its last legs as it was, and the quick, powerful action of the loaded spring pushed the board past its limits- snapping it in half and sending it flying!

A bigger mistake on Todd's part was leaping right out of cover and into the open the moment the trap was set, as the moment he did the part of the wood that was sent flying was shove not just backwards to his own home, but to the human himself as he was suddenly faced with an impaction of old wood slamming into his head, a loud **whack** was made when the board made contact with the human's face, scaring the veggie-stealer off as Todd could only whimper from the pain, somehow still standing upright even after the powerful force struck his 20-something face.

"I think...I need to try something a little more...less _painful_..."

_Attempt #2_

This time, Todd tried something a little different. Rather than rely on elastic potential energy, he instead decided that good old gravity will get the job done. Instead of a board with a spring, his better trap involved a boot on a swinging stick- with just one trip of the rope the beast will be sent flying over the wall and hopefully into next week. When the trap was set, he hid behind his front door once again, peering over while remembering this time not to leap out in the emasculating premature celebration.

Once again, under the layer of leaves a moving was stirring as the beast was trying once again to steal his food, looking through the patches for its din-din. And once again, a perfect bait, this time his largest pumpkin was placed in the perfect spot for any hungry herbivore to set its sights on.

It was coming closer and closer to the pumpkin, heading for the line of the trap, just a few more steps, underneath the shrubbery he can see the creature come ever close to it just a few more steps to the obvious bait and-

*snap*

The trap was set off!

...At least...it should have set off. The rope was cut by force, but the boot didn't budge an inch. The unknown veggie-thief underneath was still there, seemingly unaffected by the sound of the strands being snipped by its own accidental violation- and it still was looking ready to dig into his plump pumpkin.

Todd refused to let this go on any further- the trap was a dud, and if he trusted it any more...no, not Patricia the Pumpkin!

He immediately sprinted from behind cover, with nothing in hand he knew only his fists will get the job done now, as with a manly roar he yelled at the thing trying to take his beloved orange squash, making a beeline to the scoundrel as it almost jumped out of shock. It began to make a dart away as Todd gave chase, running it to where he critter once stood by his pumpkin.

It was an unfortunate ideal that the farmer ran so angrily, stomping his boots on the dirt as each step came crashing down to the dirt like a raging Bouffalant, as the failed trap began to jitter with every foot that hit the ground, shaking like a tremor as the human was going to make its way past the trap...

And with the final crash of his foot on dirt, situated right by the trap itself had caused it to be agitated enough to finally be triggered and strike; the boot came crashing forward, swinging around with brute force and hitting its target!

The human in but one second later fell to the ground in agonizing pain, as the trap had actually hit something. Two things, actually, as by poor dumb chance the boot-on-a-stick had smashed into his groin, sending a shockwave of pain as it kicked the man right in his Poke-Balls.

He didn't see what the culprit of his vegetable-snacking was, only a shadow flew by his line of sight as he laid there in the dirt pathetically, only able to hold his aching testicles as the thief had taken it's leave of the garden, leaving him alone with himself, and his hurting ballsack.

_Attempt #3_

Another try, another trap as Todd had devised his newest and best though up trap yet-a gigantic flyswatter! Big, red, and primed for action, this tool seemed less like a swatting device for pesky flies, and more like one that is meant to slap Beedrills out the air! Certainly not one that could be engaged with like a normal handheld tool.

It was a good thing then that he wasn't holding it up, as like the other times he set up the trap in his garden, the swatter was bent down backwards as he primed it in place, using a nice squash as bait. It may seem by the offshoot he was just repeating his first trap, with a spring-loaded object, but this had a much more different distinction: the trap was going to be set off by _him_, as in his hands was a simple line of string, that lengthened out and was attached to the trap, so now only he could set it off. Only he had control over it.

And he situated himself in a deep hole by the side of the house, of which he made no attempt to state where it came from, while wearing an old army helmet and camo, again with no statement as to where he got those from. He peered over the top, watching skillfully for any sign of movement within his eyeline.

It took him a few silent minutes of staying still like a statue but within due time he could see it appear- a shadow was making its way through the vegetation, laying too low to see from his position, but he knew it was there, snaking its way through the dirt, eyeing each and every one of his veggie's like it owns them!

But he would not let his anger get the best of him now. Patience is key to a good ambush, and he refused to be so lame as to initiate a premature action. His manly-hood was at stake here, for Arceus's sake!

So he waited, hoping and seeing for the creature to make its way to the trap. Slowly it seemed to come its way to the ploy set up for itself, inching ever closer as Todd held his breath in anticipation, fixated solely on the shadow in his garden as he could feel the sweat pouring down his fingers, hand twitching as he held onto the rope, shaking, anxious, yet ready, as the thief of his own property made another step towards the delicious looking vegetables, getting nearer by the second as Todd had to keep his hand steady, for fear of being triggered so soon yet the scoundrel was seeming to be almost too close as it tentatively made its way to the bait, almost suspiciously so as its pacing got slower with every step, like it was warned somehow of the danger and was beginning to understand who careful it needed to be incase-

It was on target, he pulled the string and not even a second later the swatter slammed to the ground, the noise it made, the resounding slap that came right after was almost therapeutic to him as he watched the trap smash into the ground. The next few seconds was almost deathly with how silent it was; no sound, no movement, no essence of life seemed to emanate from the position of the triggered trap.

He jumped out, clambering out of the hole as he sprinted towards his trap, excitement plastered on his face as he swerved around the vegetation, making sure not to crush his beloved's as he stood in front of the trap, and unenthusiastically peeled away the layers of green to reveal a squashed-

Squash.

The vegetable did not survive the slap of the gigantic swatter; as what was once his most promising squash was now squashed. Only it remained, though, no other body, not even a blood trail, as the scoundrel was nowhere to be seen.

But there, out of his peripheral vision, he spotted a movement, and he looked, but only saw a shadow escape over the wall, it's body not shown as Todd could only figure it was more than just a simple beast, but an intelligent, powerful being that was able to avoid his trap due to it's sheer strength and speed.

What he never realized at the time was that in reality the 'monster' was just simply small enough to fit through the holes.

_Attempt #4_

Todd began to spot a pattern in work: all he had been using up until now was tripwire traps, rope-triggered snares that always seemed to fail. And if the beast's supposed 'strength' was anything to go by, a basic trick is not going to trip it up.

No, Todd had devised a new plan now, a new tool to help him; not made of wood, rope or bait, but a brand new, top-of-the-line pitching machine! Able to shoot baseballs at 97 miles per hour, this high-tech machine won't just scare the varmint out of his garden for good, but will also deliver a rather good walloping as punishment for his lost veggies.

The pitching machine was switched, the roar of the electric engine came to life, and Todd knelt to the ground as he waited for its presence to appear, he kept his finger on the automated trigger as he awaited its return. He acted like a predator sitting ready to ambush his prey, a Lileep that stayed cradled on its spot ready to strike out with its tentacles and-

There! A movement! Fire! Fire! The sounds of baseballs speeding through the air resounded off the rock walls as the farmer screamed to the high heavens, yelling to the clear sky as he fired off the machine, shooting off the pitcher as ball after ball span through the air and hit what he hoped was his target, his voice loud and booming as his wrath was concentrated with each shot of the ball.

It was just a moment later he stopped, letting go of the trigger as the sounds of the machine lessened, no more energy running through it as it calmed down, and he too, as his breathing loud enough to be a deep pant. His fingers still shaking as the tremors slowed, the farmer almost leaned back as began to regain his normal consciousness thoughts, as if for the last few moments he wasn't even himself, but a mad man on drugs.

He jumped up, sprinted off from the machine and ran around the edge of his garden, his breathing almost shaky as he held himself together; the anticipation, the desire to know, the sense it will be all over now filled him as he turned around the corner and looked down to where the shadow was, as something was still there and it was-

A Spinarak. The String Spit Pokemon laid helplessly upside in the grass, it's eyes in swirls as baseballs coated the area around it. It was certainly a critter all right, but he knew it was not he veggie stealer. He knew the bug-types well around here- in fact, he let a number of the small Pokemon live in the trees around his home, as the webs they build can catch harmful pests around his garden. He caught something all right, but not what he was after.

"Don't worry, your just in a small daze." He almost cooed to the confused Pokemon calmly as he picked it by its abdomen, holding the bug-type carefully in his hands as he carried him away to the nearest tree, settling him on the trunk as the Pokemon got its bearings back.

"Sorry about that." He laughed embarrassingly to the accidental victim of his own attack. The Pokemon in question didn't seem to say anything back, save for it's back giving him a frowny face as it scurried up and away in the tree. Satisfied he never caused the innocent one any real injury, he walked back to his pitcher machine with a smile on his face.

A smile that lasted only a few seconds before he heard the roar of his pitching machine start back up. During his attempt to place the Spinarak back into it's natural domain he never realized a shadow move out from behind him and to the machine near the front of his house. It realized what it could do, and the imp swiveled the machine around to face his way, turned it on full auto; and winced as the first shot hit the human square in his face.

"Ahhhhh!" He yelled as he comforted his anguished face, getting a powerful shot of a baseball slammed right between his eyes. "What the hell just-" ***Whack* **Another baseball came flying as it hit him right on his forehead, sending another shockwave of pain to him as he began to cradle his whole body as more shots were fired seconds after the last.

_Ooh, that must've hurt... OUCH! I think that hurt more… _Even the scoundrel felt sorry for him as he cradled up softly on the garden floor, crying out after every smack to his body as he lad in the fetal position, defeated, hoisted by his own petard, unable to do anything by howl as the baseballs just kept coming...and coming...and coming…

_Attempt #6_

Machines. Moving objects. All those backfired, sometimes with disastrous results. _Excruciating _results. None worked as intended, time was being wasted just keeping the scoundrel away, and he was clearly getting frustrated with all this. So he changed tactics once again.

No fancy engineering involved this time, no complicated machinery. All he was using this time was an old white sheet pulled off from the clothes line, and covering it over himself, the hopeful man believed he found the perfect way to scare the varmint off: as a spooky ghost!

A bit of a simplistic looking ghost that appears during the day, but still, ghost-types are known to be frightening, so at least scaring the thief away is better than nothing.

And like a mad man he frantically began to make a run around his garden. "Booooo...Booooo..." He echoed beneath his sheet as he made a crazy dash around his garden, prancing around like a moving scarecrow as he almost refused to understand how awkward he made himself look. Not that he would care either way, as he is doing whatever it takes to keep his veggies as his own, not to be claimed by any foul beast. Even if it did make him look a complete prat.

As he caromed his way around the garden he didn't bother to look where he was going, or more so what was attached to it, as he passed by a tree, not seeing what had been shot into the wood from the attempt 5 times ago- the set of circumstances caused his sheet to be accidentally snagged on the old spring that had been snapped off from his first trap, the human too preoccupied with the board in his face to notice. As the metal piece stuck to his sheet, the humans movements of moving around transferred his force into elastic potential energy once again, stretching the piece of metal thin as the spring could only take so much.

"Booooo...Booo-ARGH!" He screamed the moment the spring had reached its limit and he was in consequence flung backwards off his feet, being pulled along with the sheet he was wearing into the tree as his body curled up from the force, nearly slamming into the wood as the spring pulled its way back in, than dropped him, and pulled him back up ad he bounced around in the air, getting dizzy as he was left dangling, suspended by the spring as his hands could not move, Todd now left as nothing more than a rolled-up shade in the warm sun.

"Hello...I could use some help here. Hello-oh that's right, I live alone. How silly of me, ha ha ha...ha...oh...I just made myself sad."

_Attempt #7_

Enough games! Enough silly, safe tries to punish the thief for it's misdeeds. He had enough with the failures, enough with the backfiring on him. And more importantly: ENOUGH WITH THE CRIMINAL WHO KEEPS STEALING HIS VEGGIES!

Now he was pulling out the big guns-Fireworks! If these don't scare off the beast of his garden than stopping short of actually pulling out actual big guns seemed to for him his final solution.

He was surely desperate to take out something like this, he knew that, but common sense was lost on him now as his vision became clouded in frustration and hatred. He knew he was playing with fire-literally as he lit up the sticks of fireworks and stood away from them, watching as the lit fuses crawled their way into the tube, the sound of the flames cutting through the threads echoed in his ears as he waited patiently for the explosions to start, for the scary sounds and lights to frighten off even the most hardened of herbivorous hooligans.

And ***BOOM*** the shots were fired off! Flames of many colours were shot out and coated the whole area in ignited gunpowder, the screams of the mini explosions scared even the Spinaraks into taking sanctity in the deeper foliage as Todd just stood back with his arms crossed, seemingly finding himself prideful for what he has done as he paid no heed to how the lights singed his eyeballs, nor how the noise deafened his ears, so long as it will scare that thief off for good, it was all worth it in the end. He believed it was working, as he saw neither hair nor a shadow of any suspicious ne'er-do-wells that dared to take his vegetables now he _truly _meant business.

But so preoccupied he was with how much he was patting himself on the back he didn't spot one of the fireworks he had stuck in the ground loose it's balance, slightly leaning down only at first before the force of the next shot was fired, the added push back sent it dropping to the floor, this act going almost unnoticed until it fired its next shot: this ejected star went careening not over the plants but into the wall, rebounding off the stone wall and sending the hot pellet right around back to-

Todd screamed like a female Loudred as the firework missed burning off his iris, the human jumped in shock and horror at seeing his own (brought) creation had made a heel-turn and began to attack its master, the farmer was getting a sense of Deja Vu, evading the flaming ballistics with his funky moves, his terrible dancing skills were accidently emerging to the open world for any confused individual who happened to watch as the man made such pathetic attempts to dodge the incoming fire.

Attempts…

ATTEMPTS!

The moment the shots finally ceased, the fireworks running out of the bullets in there magazines, did th emale known as Todd finally snap. Everything, EVERYTHING He had done up till now backfired horribly at him. All he had done was for nothing, and all it did was bring him pain.

WHY! What had he done in life to deserve such punishment? He was not a bad man, he lived his life without meaning real harm (Save for the varmit he was chasing off-but it definitely deserved it!) he never found himself wanting to hate others for any reason; so just why was he the one getting punished? Was Arceus laughing down on him? Was Mew bawling her tiny eyes out seeing all his attempts backfire on him like he was some sort of idiot? Did the legendaries have some beef with this simple father?

They...they made him angry! Rage filled him as his eyes saw red, his mind filled with words of malice...and all directed onto that one scoundrel who wouldn't Stop STEALING HIS ARCEUS-DAMN VEGGIES!

"I! Have Had! ENOUGH!" He howled to the high heavens, the farmer starting to develop into nothing more than a being of pure hatred as the final straw broke that Camerupt's back. He will not take no more! If he ever saw that beast again with his own two eyes he will-

He grabbed the net old sitting innocuously by the side of the wall, its purpose going unfulfilled until now as he gripped the handle tightly in his shaking hand and began swinging it around himself feverishly, just swatting it around in the air as any logical thought was lost and instead shoved aside in favor of his emotional outrage.

"You think you can steal my plants and get away with it! I'll tar and feather you! I'll sic a robotic Houndoom on your arse! I'll use this net to catch you and throw you into the bloody _creek_! I'll...just...UWAAA!" His words of vengeance quickly became words of gibberish as his anger overcome even his sentient thought as he pranced all around himself swinging the net like a frustrated Pangoro, not even trying to hit anything at this point as his hate turned him into nothing more than an uncontrolled mess.

This left him wide open to being tripped, as his legs walked so jagged he paid so little attention to where he was going, or where he was stepping as the rather stupid acting man tripped over his legs, falling ungraciously to the ground and he landing face first into the soil.

The only thing that had kept steady was his hold on his net as he still held onto it with both arms outstretched forward, as Todd had became to realize when he peeled his face out from the dirt. Though his attention was no longer on the net itself, but rather on thinking over what a failure he had become.

He no longer was contempt with having anger overtake his head, for now they became just a muddled backdrop as he began to grow melancholic here in the soil. All he wanted to do was to protect his garden. That's all, he had a humble wish, nothing extravagant or over-the-top, he just wanted to live his life growing and selling his produce. Why did life be so hard on him this day? Was it a string of bad luck? Or...punishment?

Was it karma for how dangerous his traps were? Did he go too far with them, as they're intentions had been to harm the thief, even when causing pain was only meant to be a backdrop? The beast was a robber, a burglar of his butternuts, sure, but did he have the right to attack a creature just for such a small crime? Maybe...maybe he should have gone the pacifistic route, and went out of his way to ask the scoundrel to just sit down and...talk their differences out. Like men should do. Maybe…

His train of thought was pushed aside as he felt a tug on his net, something almost trying to pull itself away underneath the net. Something living...something like a-

"I...I did it!" He called out in triumph from where he lay on the ground, feeling the little bugger shuffle about inside his trap as the thick vegetation meant he could not see the creature in person, but he could feel it struggle. "Ha ah! I finally caught you! You hear me? You're mine, just wait until I have-OH FUCK!"

The next thing Todd knew he was being dragged straight through the dirt, the beast he had captured was now taking him for a ride as he held onto the net for dear life, his grip firm on the handle as the shadowed beast didn't seem to hold back its strength as it pulled the farmer along with itself will all its might. It's power was so strong that Todd couldn't even get a glimpse of it as all he saw was a blur, his net going wild with the beast still captured inside, and the farmer was forced to become it's passenger, as he was being dragged through the garden, over the gourds and greens, through the bushels and over the vegetables as all he could do was hold on for dear life.

He tried to keep himself together as the wind pushed against him, the varmint bounding around in a senseless pattern to shake him off. But Todd held on, even as he was dragged through the soil, over the gravel path that lead to his front door, and towards the-

"Wait not there!" The thief was seeming to make a beeline towards his compost heap, the huge mountain of decomposing organic matter looked to tower over his prone form as the creature just kept running closer and closer until-

It seemed to bound right over the top of the pile, almost bouncing deftly as it missed the pile of fertilizer with ease: Todd, not so much, as the beast seemed to not care about its passenger as he did not bound right over the pile like it, but instead was pulled right through it- an audible _splurt_ was made as Todd could only be thankful his mouth was closed, shaking his head to remove his face of the gross stuff as the pilot of this living ship took a turn and headed straight through the-

"Watch the wall!" His cries fell on death eyes as the driver on this living vessel jumped right over the stones, with the causation of gravity meaning he was slammed face into the wall, his nose creating a burning friction as he was pulled over the top by the conductor of this crazy train, and through the trees and plants that coated the area around his home.

"Ow! Oof! Eh! "Todd was sure it was purposefully making sure he hit every bush along the wall as it skillfully avoided the trunks and continued it's frantic run away. Despite the pain, he did not let go, even as he was being pulled out the woods and over the rocks, he would not relent, he would not-

The next thing he knew was the force of cold water hitting his body as he was pulled through the creek, holding his breath as his vision was clouded with the blue of the stream.

_Huh, I didn't know Mudkip resided here now… _He thought rather calmly as he was dragged through the cool creek, for a number of seconds he felt his mind in a temporary peace of mind knowing this old river still provides shelter for some smaller Pokemon.

**SPLASH!** The human was stormed out the water; completely drenched, cold, and a trembling Feebas had somehow got stuck in its mouth. He spat the water-type away as he continued being dragged around, the lingering taste of live scales on his tongue was not pleasant, though not as much as being forced over pointy rocks as the sharp stones, thankfully, did not cut through his skin but merely scraped over them, but the feeling still painful and horrible.

It seemed to almost be a walk-up call for him as the pain reminded him he was still here, and on the end of his tool was the scoundrel still making him suffer. He began to pull back, despite the major force pushing against him, and tried to find footing to hold it down, slowly, his feet studded along the grassy floor of the open wild, as he shifted his weight into his feet, and using the muscles in his arms he pulled back at the net, taking back his hold as the predator, not the prey, and his hope began to return as he finally was getting somewhere-

**CLANG!** That sound was made when an adult male human collided against a metal lamp post, as for all he had been doing, one thing he had not been doing was focusing on where he was being dragged into, that is, one of the lamp posts around his area, with the moment he hit the light source, his body slowly descended back down into the dirt, a rather mitigating relief after the run of the mad chase.

It took him a few seconds to sit back up, rubbing his face with both of his hands as the pain he had been submitted to was not the worst he had felt this day, not by a long shot, if anything he was getting used to this feeling on himself. He moaned out, sighing as he regained his senses-and then realized neither hand had a hold on his net. He looked and saw not a distance away the tool of his home lying by the floor; but more importantly, inside the tool could be seen the body of none over than his arch nemesis from today!

The scoundrel was not able to escape from the fibers, as after it had inadvertently slammed the humans face into post, the force made him let go, and the sudden expulsion of a resisting force caught it off guard and made it trip over itself with the net falling and tumbling down the grass as by the time it stopped all it could see was stars in its eyes, completely in a daze.

Though this might not have lasted that long, it was long enough for the human to get up off his feet, sprint over, and make a long dive to the creature, catching it off guard as he now tumbled in the grass, his working arms wrestling with the confused beasts as it struggled to get out his grip.

Whatever it was in his arms, to him it was most certainly a whopper of a catch, huffing and spitting out as he struggled to hold the beast down to contain it so he could hold it up the light and look upon his catch, but he did with a singular moment, finally getting a good hold of it as he pulled it out of the net and held aloft his catch.

"Now I've got you, you over-muscled, evil little... bunny?" He blinked as he looked upon the beast, the thief, the tormentor of himself on just this one day. It was a not a large creature he held in his hands, nor a muscular being, not even something that looked so much as slightly scary to him, it was just a small Pokemon, one that barely measured a single foot in height. It did not look strong, or mighty, or even dangerous, just a floofy, long-eared bouncing being. One that seemed almost...scared that it was caught by something much bigger than itself, much stronger, and who had a bone to pick with it.

He mumbled something under his breath as he looked up at the little thing in his arms. Despite the hardships he faced when trying to quell the beast, he found it practically ridiculous to see it was nothing more than a small Pokemon that terrorized his patch. All that time thinking it was some kind of monster, and all he got out of the fray was this small thing. This...thing he knows was the one eating through his livelihood.

"So you were the one that kept stealing from my garden?" His words came out slow and stoic, no anger or sadness alleviating his tone, and his sentence more rhetorical than not as he studied the quivering Pokemon that seems to be on the edge of breaking down in tears. "And I just cannot let you get away with that, can I?"

He moved a hand away from the Pokemon, making sure his other hand was still firmly gripped onto its body as he peeled his arm away slowly and to his pocket, fishing out a round object in his hands: an Ultra Ball.

Todd had guessed what he was dealing with was some Pokemon of some kind-not there was any creature else it could have been, giving the world he lives in- so he brought the most powerful PokeBall he could buy. A bit of an overkill considering the situation _now_, sure, and he almost forget he still had it until now, but it was the only thing he had on him that would hold her for the time being. The Pokemon knew what it was as well, if purely by instinct, and began to shake as it noticed the ball was being pointed right at itself.

All it could do was let out a squeal of "BUN-" before the ball was activated and the engrossing light swallowed it hole, reducing the danger of his garden to nothing but a mere gathering of energy as the Ultra Ball closed with a click. The device shook a few short times in the palm of the human's hand, the anticipation was short lived as a resounding **click **came right after, and the ball stood still.

He did not cheer or cry in joy when it was done, despite knowing full well he had won, the beast of his veggies would steal no longer now that he held it securely in the palm of his hands, its life his to do with in whatever way he pleases, even to waste it to nothing...

With a sigh the man stood up, holding onto the ball securely in his hand, and made a trudge away, becoming calmly silent as he walked home. The world around him seemed to go unnoticed to him as his beeline walk back went soothingly uninterrupted.

He opened the front door, guiding himself inside to the big room; it was his kitchen, with many cooking supplies and bakeware that littered the room, cleaned, but left to be anywhere as he cared little for the mess of his kitchen having sought no reason to keep it tidy. In the middle of it all was a large old wooden table, unlike the counters nothing was kept on it, as desolate on top as it was by the sides as only a single chair was surrounding the table.

Todd sat carefully down on the lone chair, facing the table's length as he pulled up both the Ultra Ball and something new out his pocket- his old PokeDex. Turning it on, he turned his attention to the Poke Ball in his hand, and pointing it out, released the mechanism locking device- the ball pried open, and a bright light emerged, forming a mass on the middle of the table as it grew in colour and shape, and within just a sharp second the lights fizzled out into nothing, and the Pokemon stood on the table in all its tiny glory.

It didn't dare move or speak when so close to the capturer, the look he was given did not make him seem pleased at all, and the only expression he held was his furrowed brows he gave when he looked at the tiny form in front of him. The only thing the Pokemon felt relieved by was that he was not charging at itself, coming to stake claim like predator towards weak prey, but instead his position relaxed in his chair. His attention stopped being on the small one when he pulled up his PokeDex and aimed it for her. The screen lit up with information as a robotic voice called out from the handheld machine-

_[Buneary, the Rabbit Pokémon. Buneary perks up its ears at the first sign of danger. It tucks its head into its fur to sleep on cold nights.]_

"So, you're a female huh?" Todd gave out his unanswered question as the Buneary stood still, unsure of what to make of anything that is happening. The small smile he sported faded as he placed both the PokeDex and Ultra Ball on the table, resting his elbows on the wooden surface as he observed the frightened female as she held onto one of her drooped ears like some natural variation of safety blanket.

"I won't hurt you." He said cleanly, looking the Buneary in the eyes when he spoke that. "I don't like hurting little Pokemon at all. This is the honest truth with me." She stopped shaking; she was still afraid of what he may do, but the rational side of her pondered over why he would say this. He had already caught and trapped in something she had no way of escaping from. Why would he release her from the ball to commit some atrocious when he had the perfect opportunity beforehand? She stayed away from him, but she waited for him to continue, at least.

"But you did steal from my garden and took food for yourself without asking, and I cannot let that go unpunished." There was the sentence that made her close her eyes and tense her body, ready for whatever harsh retribution she was about to receive. "So I'll make you a deal." A single eye opened up. "I want you to work for me; help me with the gardening and farming, and do as I say, so you can pay back for the vegetables you have stolen for yourself. In return, I'll let you live here with me, I'll feed you and keep you safe. Does that sound fair?" She didn't lower her guard, but she did listen to his words, and could only blink at what he said. The working-to-pay-off-her-debts part made easy sense, a fitting punishment for her crime, but to let her sleep and eat in this house…

She gave a brief look around herself, observing her surroundings: The large stone bricks made her feel like she was inside some kind of warm cave, and the odd appliances of human creation made he feel far more alien to this strange place, but at the same time, if she had to live here she believed she be much safer than any place else, no longer outside or in burrows, to her, this was the most secure shelter she'd ever been in. It awed, and excited, her to think that this could be her new living space, away from predators and the like, not to mention with the addition of free food...no more scrounging around, no more going from place to place to seek vegetation for her to survive through the next cold night. It...sounded so unreal, like a dream, but now in reality.

So absent-minded with her thoughts over this offer she barely noticed the human strike a hand towards, so slow and quiet he was in hopes not to give her more reason to feel fear she only perceived his hand being so close to her after a few seconds of it hovering right by her. As close as it was, she neither backed away nor sought more comfort from the blockage of her own ears as she just looked at his hand with interest, but still umbridge, knowing full well what one of his hands were still capable of.

"Do we have a deal?" His hand shook a little as he opened his palm to her, not hiding at all the fact he had to lean forward to get close enough to reach her. She looked at his hand, at his fingertips that were left wide-open, at his palm that looked dry from use. She could swat it away with one of her ears easily, the shock from him would give her enough time to jump out the door and leave. A part of her didn't want to do that, a part of her wanted to agree with this arrangement. Out of curiosity, maybe, or born out of necessity to survival. The same part of her mind **wanted **to trust him, because deep down she wanted a home to stay, she wanted to settle somewhere and not feel dread for what dangers may occur. As selfish as it may seem, she just wanted to have fun sometimes.

So with these thoughts lingering in the back of her head she let her defenses down, slowly unfurling away from her ears as the propped back up her head, one up straight the other curled, and let him show her face as she looked at the hand before her.

The instincts that drove her to flee from others did not appear when she looked over the body part that stayed still for her. She could only hypothesize what he wanted from her with this hand, and with no way to ask, she slowly leaned for it, inching closer as she made a step for it.

There was no going back once she placed her tiny chocolate-coloured paws on him, but with the extra thought of _Going back to what?_ She refused to back away even now, as scared as she was, she knew there was nothing to lose. Discomfort ran through, unsure completely about it, but with every centimetre she got closer, the space between them closing by the second, she wondered just what worse will happen.

No sound was made when her paws touched his hand, but no swift movements came when he felt her soft fur on his, no pillars of fire sprouted out of the ground like she made a deal with Giratina, the silence of the world that spoke nothing moments ago still was mute inside this house.

The only thing the human did after was smile gently, letting her get used to his hand as he witnessed her body become slack over his fingers, relaxed under his presence as her fears lessened- which then became the best time to strike-

He slowly rubbed at her head, gently touching the sides as he cupped her cheek, giving the cute little one a small massage to welcome her to his new home.

She did not resist this feeling, more so she let it happen with soft eagerness as she relaxed on his hand, letting her weight fall on his palm as she lightly murmured from the touch, her eyes going lidded as the gentle feel of being caressed so lovingly gave her memories of a happy time, of another of her kind doing this to soothe her young soul quite a long time ago...it was...such a lovely feeling to have.

But a sudden boop of her nose got her attention out of it as his hand stopped moving on her cheek, drifting away as the cheerful man waved that same finger at her. "They'll be time for more of this later." He spoke as he got out his chair. "For now, you'll need to keep your end of the bargain." The sounds of the feet of the chair scraped along the old rock floor as he moved to stand by the side of the table nearer to her. "Now come, you've got a lot of work to do, missy, and I can't have you slacking on the first day." He held out both his hands to her, but unlike the first time he tried this he didn't force himself on her, rather he offered them to her for her to accept.

Though still unsure of everything that was happening, she accepted his offer as she bounced herself between his hands, letting them take a soft hold of her as he pulled her to his chest. He felt warm, Buneary took note of as she was pulled safely to his chest. Even with the old, dirty clothes he had on she could feel the warmth he inadvertently shared with her. It felt nice...to be held so securely.

He walked out with the calming Buneary in his hands, the sunshine hit her face as she turned to look in front of the human...and almost gasped at the sight.

With the many times she had raided his garden, she had only seen it from ground level, only from a height that allowed many of the well-groomed vegetation to tower over her, the leaves became a canopy where even her ears standing up straight only grazed the undersides of the green form below. But now when being carried carefully in a human's arms, she stood high above all the plants, and from her position she could see it all; all the vegetables, all the bushes of berries, all the thinner plantation that she avoided because they never seemed appetizing for her. It wasn't just their size, but how neatly in a row each vegetable type was, how enough space was giving so each plant got sufficient sunlight to thrive. He was certainly far from being an amateur.

He dropped her down right by the front of the patch, kneeling down right beside her as he began to explain her mission for today. "Right to begin your tasks for today, we'll need to pull out and remove _all the vegetables you had decided to nibble on from all your previous snacking!_" She wasn't completely sure there was a tone in his voice, but she did feel the sting of his gaze on her. She couldn't tell, however, because she was unable to look him in the eyes, as the smallest glint of guilt rode up her spine. It was his stuff, she knew that, and she never thought it would hurt much to snack on a few things every now and again. Yet she also couldn't resist filling herself up each time, each veggie was just too delicious too pass up.

"Now because you are a bit too small to use garden tools, I just want you to carry them to the compost heap for me. It'll be an easy job to start off with. Here..." She watched him grab a half-eaten carrot out of the ground, one that may or may not have been influenced as such by the Rabbit Pokemon, and handed it over to her. Buneary grabbed the big veggie in her hands, trying to resist the urge to finish the carrot lest she releases his wrath, and just looked up at him for directions.

"See the compost heap over the-" He stopped mid-sentence as he realized that thanks to the thief previous use of making him her passenger from earlier the compost heap was less 'over there' and more of 'over there, there and a bit over there as well'. "Uh...we'll deal with the mess later, for now, I want you to place it in the biggest pile of the lot. Understand?" She nodded to him as she made a turn and walked off, beelining her way to the smelly pile of rotten food as she tried not to notice the smell when she waddled in close, standing right in front of it as the broken pile still stood over her. She looked back over to him, trying to ask in her own way if this was what he wanted for her.

"Go, just chuck it in!" He encouraged her from his distance, giving her a thumbs up of optimism as he watched her. She swiveled herself back as she looked down to her carrot them back up at the pile, hesitant less she do it wrong. But without there being any visible way to mess it up, she firmly flung the half-carrot to the pile, watching as the root flew through the air, above her head, and landed into the compost with only the lightest of _slupts_, then stayed there without moving anymore.

"Good job. Come back, we've still got a lot more to do." A small smile adorned her as she realized this wouldn't be dangerous at all, if this was all she had to do then mindment of her situation lessened. She didn't notice how much she was quickly hopping back to him almost eagerly so as she prepared herself for the next one. Todd had already moved away as he now sat on knees by the next plant, half a cucumber. Buneary joined him, but this time didn't wait for him as she hopped past him and to the cucumber, as she grabbed the eaten and began to pull at it with force.

She was stopped very curtly by the male as he lightly brushed her aside with words of "Woah woah, steady on there. You don't just pull a cucumber out like that." The Pokemon watched as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a pair of bladed shears- the Buneary stepping back quickly in response at seeing the metal glisten dangerously in the open sun. Steel types was something she had always seen as the most deadly in her eyes, and anything resembling that gave her cause for concern.

Todd didn't notice her resentment to the tool as he explained to her his reasoning for using the shears: "It's much better to cut the vine than to tug it. Doing that can cause injury to the vine if it's pulled or twisted. All you need is a simple blade and-" _*Snap* _"There, cucumbers off without a problem. Now it's your turn." She handed the bisectioned vegetable to his companion as she quickly sprinted off and to the heap. Seeing her go with vigor rise a little chuckle in his throat, finding a sense of pleasantness in having a companion to work with him, even if it was one that responsible for some of the problems with his garden.

Not wanting to dwell on unwanted thoughts he heaved himself up and to the next item on the proverbial list, the carved pumpkin, looking a little flatter than earlier. He began to cut up the thicker vine attached to the wilting squash, hearing his shorter employee titter along back to him. He didn't wait for her this time, instead he lifted off the whole pumpkin by himself, holding it over his shoulder as he looked down to the Pokemon. "Sorry, I think this one is a little too big for you, I'll carry it myself." He strode past her, giving her room as Buneary watched him go silently.

"Neary..." She mumbled, seeing the bigger being take the large squash away, leaving her alone without anything to do. Despite how nice is sounded to not do any work, to the Pokemon it didn't feel comforting just to sit back and do nothing. Not that she was exactly career-driving, so to speak, but she didn't want to take kindly of being seen as useless, especially to one she feels she owed something to. She looked back to the empty slot made when he took away the large squash, and noticed something lying on the earthy ground before her.

"Off we go." He cheered dumbly as she slapped the degraded pumpkin down on top of the compost heap, settling the big veg on top of the pile as he admired the weird look of the eaten pumpkin over rotten vegetables. Dusting his hands off, he could the sounds of the little one hopping up beside him. Down beside himself he watched the small Buneary bounce over and threw upon the pile a handful of old pumpkin pulp. Despite the far lesser amount than his, he felt grateful for her help even so, and bending down he gave a few soft pats on her head as a thank you. He never noticed how much she loved the contact of physical affection, even just for a platonic.

"I think we've all we've got left to do now is the squashed squash and-" His cut his own sentence short as he watched her quickly dart away from him, her sudden eagerness caught him well off-guard, but he didn't mind in the slightest, in fact he quite liked it, having an enthusiastic partner to help him. With that said, that doesn't give him much right to just laze about himself, and quickly moving off he grabbed a shovel and began to scoop at the remaining chunks of chucked compost shoving them back onto the main pile while the Buneary went about her own work.

It didn't take long, and by the time he was done Buneary was already making her way back, carrying as much squash as she could in one go. She quickly threw into the big pile, almost glad to be rid of it as she immediately leaned her head up to him, tilting her body his way to present the top of her head to him.

He almost chuckle when he realized her ardor for cleaning up the messy veggie stuff was done just to receive a head pat reward. Of course, like she would do it purely just for the job, it wasn't as if she joined voluntarily. "So that's your game then; you just want some free head rubs?" The Buneary titled her petite self from near to away as she cowered under his gaze, shocked and anxious that she crossed a line somewhere of the agreement she agreed to.

But the human didn't seem at all bothered by this, at least she thought this when his hand came down and began to happily rub it's palm over her. "Bunnn..." She let out slowly as she rubbed her head back on him with fever, making sure he doesn't stray too close to her ears as she melted from the contact.

Two little taps ended the soft thank you's of good working as he pulled away, urging her to follow him as he led her to the watering can by the outdoor tap. "Now, what you want to do with watering..." He explained as he filled up the can. "Is to water deeply a few times a week. Don't try to do shallow watering, even if done daily. Shallow watering will cause the roots to grow only near the top, which can result in drying out and under performing. Deep watering will instead encourage the roots to dig into the ground. This is especially needed during the hotter summers." He turned off the tap and made his way over to the garden, the Buneary right behind him as he knelt down by some carrots and began to pour water over the root vegetables. "For now, I should be the only one to water the plants, as you are far too small to use my watering can." She agreed with him on this, the can seemed to stand taller than her head. Just thinking of trying to lift the water-filled metal tool made her ears tense. "So instead I have a different job for you." Todd stopped his watering as he reached over and pulled off a leaf from a vine, and with his other hand he wrapped around the underside of a different vegetable, presenting the two leaves for her to look at. "You see what's off with these leaves?"

She took a good look at the two pieces of plants from his hands and thought over what the difference was. The one he held seemed to look rather normal, albeit rather more yellow in colour the green, while the other...had some strange looking dark spots on them. Those looked very appetizing for her almost like she was examining rotten leaves. "These are bad leaves that will do nothing but waste resources for the vegetables to grow properly. What I want you to do is go around the garden and pull off any leaves like these two. When you've got enough just put them in a pile over by the door, I can shred them later. Think you can do that?" He offered both leaves to her, and she accepted them warmly, taking them both in her little paws. "Then off you go." She quickly bounded away, heading into the nearest batch of plants as the smiling man happily went about his own watering business.

They both were done within the hour, and under his request she piled all the unwanted leaves by the door, so Todd can gingerly grab them and put them in the house for later, returning back out with two cups, both for his own and for the Pokemon, with a plastic straw coming out for the smaller one of the two.

He laid it down beside her, taking a seat on the wooden planks by the wall and drank deeply from his cup, giving himself a moment to relax as the Buneary looked at the drink he offered unconditionally. She was a little surprised, thinking that the human only meant for her to be here work, caring only to give her the bare essentials, so she never expected something as meaningful as a refreshment.

And after she took her first sip- she was amazed at what a refreshment it is! It wasn't just any regular water; this water hard a sharp taste and tang to it. It was cool and chilling even, crispy on this hot day, but the backdrop of added flavour kept her wanting to taste more. She didn't care if she stopped breathing while she drank from this potion of youth, all she wanted was to drown herself in this sweet elixir.

"I see someone else is a big fan of Lemon & Lime." He laughed as the Buneary began to have a coughing fit, as no matter how hard she tried, her feeble mortal body could handle only so much, and it was inevitable her unsteady quick drinking would catch up with her. "Careful now, I don't want you drowning on me just yet."

As they finished their drinks Todd began the next lesson- which, she noticed involved a large wheelbarrow, as he pushed it to the front of his garden and explained himself. "Right then, for the next job I need you to help me with we are going to be pulling out some plants. We'll need those for later. For a start, we'll be pulling up some red onions, since they aren't too hard to pull up. Now watch..." With his gloved hands he took a firm hold of the onion's stalk. "And you just pull like this..." He twisted his hands as he began to pull straight up, the dirt by the root began to crumble as the vegetable was slowly lifted out the dirt, and with an almost audible _pop_ earth cascaded everywhere, littering the ground with more of it's bigger brethren as the onion was out the ground, held high like a prize, shining from the light. Even though it was dirty.

"Now you try it." He pointed to another red onion in the ground. With a gulp she walked right up to it, looking up and down the stalk as she wondered if this was how tall they got naturally. It seemed a little intimidating, as the stalks grew above her own head. But she wouldn't be undetermined by food, she was bigger and it was their duty to be eaten by the likes of her.

She snorted; ain't no way she was gonna be belittled by a _root_. So, with a wave of her arms she grabbed the stalk strongly with her paws, letting the strength of her muscles build up as she prepared herself, her grip solid and her feet carved into the ground as she made her heave.

Her feet slide down as the stalk remained in place, the Buneary only managing to move herself as all the plant did was shift a little, even with the exaggeration of her clenched teeth letting out a "_Nnnnnn._" as the Pokemon did make any effort whatsoever.

"No no no." He quickly interjected, pulling back upwards before her leaned back hit the dirt. "Do as I did, twist it as you pull." She blinked, then nodded in understanding as she remembered how he did it. A part of her was doubting it would work, as to her chagrin this plant had gotten the best of her. But...he seemed to trust that she could, and for some reason she didn't want to let him down.

She guessed it was just to appease him, lest he got angry with her, and punish her misdeeds. So as she was instructed she took another firm grasp on the stalk, a steady breath in as she readied himself, and with a slight tug only at first her force came into being a powerful struggle; as she pulled upwards she kept twisting every second, every pull she went reeling back as her grip never strayed, her eyes clenched shut in focus, making her unable to see the onion crumbling the ground over it as emerged from the ground...then **POP-**

She felt her entire weight shift backwards so suddenly all she could do was take hops back to not fall, only two on one leg before her body begin to fall, only to be caught just as suddenly as she felt the hand of the human hold her still. A second to recuperate herself allowed her to see the big red dirty vegetable held tightly in her paws.

"Nice job, and that is a big catch as well." The human smiled to her warmly as she took the time to look at the onion that she got out herself. "Buuuunnnn." She cheered in joy as she felt pride for accomplishing this task, as exhausting as it were, being complimented gave her the drive to continue forward.

So for the next hour the two got to work removing the vegetables in the garden. Not all, but many kinds, from courgettes he picked out himself due to their size to Oran berries he had her pick off the bush, with only a little instruction of how best to pick them. It was exhausting and dirty work, but in the end they managed to bag themselves a hefty fee of all sorts of stuff. The next step was easy, as he washed the vegetables by hand while he had his companion, bring them to him as commanded, which to her was a little enlightening, learning the names of the vegetables. She never before thought about learning the names of her food.

But that wasn't the end for today, as it were, as right after he had them put it all back into the wheelbarrow and to have her follow behind as he dragged much of the sum of their gathered loot out of the garden, past it all as she silently hoped behind him as they left the premises and walked...and kept on walking…

He more than a few times turned around him to ask if she was keeping up, and though this distance was not a great bother to her (she thought _he'd _be the one having more trouble, carrying all that around with him), it did make her wonder how far they were going, and where to as well.

"Just keep to my side so you don't get lost." He called to her as the sight of a human village came into view, with the tall, shrouding buildings being a little intimidating to her. She can handle the farmer's house by its lonesome, but this many buildings...with this many people...she made sure to keep right by side.

Though thankfully the village seemed rather quiet, even over the cobbled streets few cars made their way over the solid ground as the human finally let the wheelbarrow set down as he grabbed something by the side of one door to a building- a rather innocuous plastic crate. She watched him place a number of the few veggies onto the crate then drop them off at the step, ringing the doorbell, and moving on with his barrow without so much as a look back, walking away as Buneary had trouble keeping by his side, her confusion written on her face as he just left them there.

They kept on going until he stopped at another house, again like last time a basic crate leaned on the wall outside where he proceeded to place in the produce and knock on the door before taking a walk away.

"Now lets see, Miss Grimshaw has a Yamper so I should add in a few Oran's as well." He mumbled aloud as he placed in more food into a crate and left it by the doorstep. "I'm guessing you're probably wondering why I'm leaving some of own veggies out like this?" He suddenly said, lightly shocking the Buneary as if he had read her mind. "Well the simple answer is the owners of the houses I deliver to are older seniors living alone, many of whom have trouble buying food for themselves."

That didn't make sense to her. The whole thing sounded strange; why does this human give away his own grown food to others without anything in return? Who are they and what do they do to deserve being given free food just for nothing? He can't just give food to them without being given anything in return, that's now how it works. If they want food to eat, why don't they grow it themselves?

...Unless...they can't grow it themselves. They may be too old to, if what the human says is true. So why does he just give them away for free... Does this human do that because he wants to...that is, so selfless of him. So unnecessary to his own survival. Above herself she looked up at him, to the smiling man, the compassionate man...maybe she has it wrong about humans after all. Maybe they aren't so terrifying.

"Oh whoops, I forgot I gave them one oran berry too short." The human said in a way that was sure not to be chosen for an acting award anytime soon. "Say, can you go back and put this in the crate for them?" He reached down with an Oran in his fingers as he held it out for the Buneary to take. With almost desire she took it gratefully in her paws, wanting to help him out, but this time not for working or for a reward, she actually wanted to give something out, even if she didn't know who it was, because the idea of her helping someone else out, someone who needed help when they can't do it by themselves...well it was a fuzzy sensation.

She could feel this as she ran back to the crate, merrily thoughts ran through as she ran towards her destination with an almost spring in her step, wanting to make the human proud of her being useful for once-

She didn't look where she was going, and the old concrete slabs that had seen better days were uneven enough for a creature of her height of her leg span to easily trip and fall forward, slamming herself right into the ground face first, her whole body flailing forward from the trip and slapped onto the concrete. And she could taste it, but was once the sweet tasting delight that was an Oran berry tasted sour on her tongue, gross, as it was not meant for her...but for someone more needy.

"_Buuuunnnn..._" The slow gurgles became more audible as the Pokemon pulled herself up, not caring for the tears that stained her cheeks dripped down to the mess that was a crushed berry below her. "Oh dear, what have you done?" He spoke slowly as the human approached her, letting her stand by herself and looked to the blue that stained her paws. All of it was gone, something she had entrusted her to do was now destroyed by her own careless paws. All she felt she could do was wail in sorrow at the sight.

"Come on, look at me." He instructed carefully as the Buneary looked up to him, this time with Oran juice smushed all over her face as she tremble, not with fear but with lament of fault that was all alone. She was not able to read his face as he stared down to her, and seeing his hands move and slowly encase her she closed her eyes for the inevitable.

A small soft blanket suddenly covered her face as it was rubbed all over, soaking up the oran juices and being cleaned off her as she stood still, confused and unsure as the napkin wiped off the source of her sorrow as much as it did the tears that came after. He moved attention to her chest, then her hands as the dazed Pokemon was wiped clean.

"There, it's all gone now. No reason to cry." The Pokemon snuffled in response, no longer did her tears come down but her sadness was not so easily dissipated. The human could see this in her eyes as he softly spoke, "It was only an Oran. No harm in one having gone to waste. I have more see..." He pulled out another berry from his jacket and dangled it over her paws. "Take it." She unsurely unfolded her paws in response, letting him slowly place it on her paws as she held it carefully. "Just take your time and do it slowly. I can promise you you won't drop it this time."

The Buneary looked at the fruit in her paws, worried and racked with guilt over what she had done, and most certainly belittling herself for being so reckless. Yet a strange sliver of joy could be found in her hearing that he trusts her, and idea that seemed ridiculous after she had already failed him moments ago. But she walked on regardless, doing her duty like she believed she had to do, each step careful and precise as she watched ever foot go after the other, making her way to the crate and silently placing it down alongside the others.

"Good job." The lovely feeling of head pats of a job well done cooled her mind as she looked down to the pile of food before her, the pile she almost ruined by her lack of awareness. "See everything's fine now. No trouble." She nearly jumped when she felt his hand reach down and grab her by the chest, pulling her up and placing her in the pocket on his sweatshirt, letting her ride with him as he walked back with a passenger in the front, letting her relax in a pouch like a baby Kangaskhan, allowing her to see the world from a higher than normal distance. She liked seeing above her normal height, as she could see far and wide, above the tall grass, able to spot any threats, or tasty veggies, far off into the distance

"Having fun down there?" He called with a big smile on his face.

"Bun! Buneary!" She called back cheerfully as she leaned over the edge for their long, but charming walk back home.

* * *

The gate was closed, the wheelbarrow was put back and the small female hopped from the pouch to the table as the hot farmer took off the jacket, sweat pouring down his face on this blistering day.

He took a look to the cheery Pokemon on the table, helping himself to looking at her form, as essence of dirt and Oran juice could be seen buried deep beneath her overcoat of fur. He lightly chuckled, thinking of how she could get so dirty after only a few short hours of working with him compared to how long she was in the wild for.

"Looks like someone's in need of a bath." He announced as he picked at the fur on her head, feeling the dried mud underneath as the one being touched only blinked in response, not being fazed as she was being handled once again, ( who was beginning to like the idea of being carried) and took her over to one side of the sink, using on hand to turn it on as he placed a plug in the hole. Slowly, he placed her down into the warm water, the Buneary wondering what was going on as he pulled out a clean flannel.

"I'm going to clean you now, can you stay still for me?" She nodded as he wet the flannel in the hot water and began to rub it all over the Buneary's face. She could feel her cheeks being smushed all over as the flannel was digged deep into her fur, cleaning all over her. She didn't mind the feeling really, the hot water was very relaxing, and even if it drenched her fleece she liked the sensation of sitting in the water and being catered to, though she had to jolt her ears away when he almost touched them, their sensitivity was immediately understood by the human.

He continued to rub away the dirt from her for a few moments before stopping, telling her to clean herself off for the next few minutes as he prepared dinner. For the next few minutes the Pokemn got to work bathing herself, letting her body float on the surface as she relaxed into the bath, barely hearing the sounds of the man prepare the food for themselves, as he truthfully stated before.

The sounds of the plug being pulled and the water going down the drain got her out of her calmed state as the human hovered over her form. "You gotta get dry now, dinner is almost ready." He stated as he pulled up a larger-than-her towel and wrapped it around her, turning her into a Buneary sandwich, though that mattered little to her as the snug, soft texture of the cloth felt like a second fleece to her.

"I'm guessing you like the feel of wool, then..." He joked as she visibly enjoyed the soft touch of 100% Wooloo wool towel surrounding her tiny form. "Actually I just realized now I don't know your name. What are you called?"

"Buneary?" The Buneary asked him in confusion.

"Buneary it is then. I'm Todd, by the way." He smiled as he rubbed her some more, letting her dry herself for the later half as he prepared the last of the dinner. The Buneary didn't want to leave, wanting to just wrap herself in this soft cloth and stay bundled in this one spot for eternity.

But she couldn't, and he wouldn't let her as he rudely grabbed his towel back and placed it aside, grabbing the now clean Buneary in his arms as he led her to the table.

Now, it wasn't as if she hadn't heard him mention dinner, she did remember him talking about food from the deal, but she didn't expect very much, surely just basic greens like grass and cuttings, she could get by on those, nothing more needed then that, she thought.

She nearly drooled at the sight in front of her; as the human placed her down on the table, he sat he right in front of a ceramic bowl- filled to the brim with the most freshest and tastiest selection of greens she had ever laid eyes on; slices of cucumber, tomato, green leaf lettuce, watercress, red onion- it was a buffet of the finest veggies-

"Eat them up, Buneary, you've earned it from today's work."

-And she dug in immediately upon hearing that, caring little for the etiquette of table manners as she noshed the food down, biting and devouring each bite as she ravaged the garden salad like a Sharpedo, biting her way through the greens at an impressive state as the human known as Todd just laughed at the sight, enjoying his own salad as he felt a nostalgic presence run through him, happy to share dinner with someone else after so long.

* * *

Night had soon fallen, and with one last final check up to the garden outside before dusk settled he got both of them ready for bed.

She was feeling pretty tired before she had even been taken up the stairs, her gouging on the delish assortment of vegetation known as a salad had filled her up so nicely her belly threatened to flop out her fleece, too fat too much as she didn't leave so much as a stalk. Not too mention how hard she worked today, all she wanted to do was settle down and sleep.

Todd say how tired Buneary was, and had no problem carrying her up to the bedroom himself, with the fattened rabbit Pokemon nestled warmly in her arms, she almost went to sleep right there and then. But she didn't, at least nor right now; a sense of curiosity was within her as she had yet to see the rest of his luxurious home.

And while his bedroom looked to be nothing special by human standards, with a simple bare wood floor and white plastered walls, it seemed exquisite to the outdoor-living Pokemon. Beside the large double bed, a big lamp stood on top that offered a warm, comforting golden light, the outside darkness could not be seen behind the black curtains of his large window, though Buneary would have liked to see the garden glow in the moonlight, the lone window giving a perfect view of his lifework, and to Todd the perfect sight to see after waking up in the morning.

But the piece of furniture she cared about the most was the big bed, with flannel sheets and blankets covering the mattress the Buneary was in seventh heaven, resting her tired little body on the wonderfully snuggly layers of insulated throws. She cuddled herself as she rolled over the quilts, letting our murls of joy as their warming feeling lulled her to a soundless sleep.

Todd in the meantime was taking his nightly shower, letting the Pokemon rest up as he cleaned himself off. By the time he had come back into the bedroom in his nightly attire the small one was seemingly already fast asleep, lying on her side as the warm glow of the lamp illuminated her body.

He turned it off as he made his way into bed, carefully picking up Buneary gently into his arms as to not disturb her and laid her down with her head resting on the second pillow, covering the lower part of her form with the soft cloth as he slid into the bed alongside her, making fair room for her and giving enough space for him to lay flat on his back and close his eyes.

Yet despite what he may have thought, Buneary wasn't completely asleep yet as she was purposefully waiting for this moment, when his guard is lowered and his mind in a restless sleep. It was now she pounced-

Shifting her form silently close to him until her cheeks brushed against his hand, his fingers just gazing her fur as she relaxed her body by him, the truth of her sharing a sleeping space with a being she knew wouldn't hurt her soothed her tired mind, begging her to take a visit to dreamland as the last thought the Pokemon was of wanting to stay with him forever.

* * *

After a lovely morning of waking up and having a hearty meal-cereals for him, but none for the Buneary, who was given plant greens for breakfast- he was already in his work uniform before he took his first step outside, ready to start a new day alongside his new recruit. It was a perfectly warm day; not hot but no cold wind passed by either, the perfect start to begin his new day of gardening not too long after dawn had broken.

Buneary herself was raring to go, excited to learn what new jobs she was going to do. In fact, she had heard him mention they were going to plant more vegetables today during the before-noon meal. There was something about that task that thrilled-perhaps, she believed, it was the fact she was creating new life for others to thrive on, beginning a base for new plants to grow, and maybe, with her handiwork... helping those less fortunate. It sounded almost unfair, in an ironic way, that she felt bad for others and wanted to do a part, even if a small one, in helping them have good food to eat when just one day ago she was in the same situation.

She wondered what choice led up to this point, but either way she didn't ponder on them for too long as she bounced out into the open sunlight. "Ready for another hard day of work?" He questioned his smaller friend as she happily agreed with many nods of her round head, jumping to the side and grabbing a trowel left out in open as she was about to start her day of planting more delicious vegetation.

Not that she could get far, the weight of the trowel was a bit too big for her to wield as all the enthusiastic Pokemon could do was drag the digging tool along the ground with her, trying not to be bothered by the heavy weight. The human stopped her short, before she was able to accidentally uproot his front area as he held the Trowel in front of her, the dangling Buneary still holding on, blinking as her eyes met him. "I think this may be a bit too big for you." He gleefully chided as he sat he back to the grass. "Instead I want you to plant some of these for now." He pulled out a packet from his pocket and handed it to her. "I need some chives for my garden, so I want you to plant some seeds for me. It's easy, all you have to do is sprinkle a few on the ground and throw some dirt over them. Can you do that for me?" She nodded firmly in response. "Then try over there." He pointed to an empty spot on his garden, over by the side, and the Buneary shot off like a rocket as she did exactly what the human had instructed; just place a few of the black seeds on the ground and cover with earth, then do it again in another spot.

It was easy. Too easy, in fact, as after she was quickly done she didn't feel accomplished with her task- she didn't even feel like she deserved any head pats for her effort. And her stroll back made her feel even more inept with her job as she saw the human plant much bigger greens of his own, trowel digging right into the dirt and all.

"Bun-y." She called to him as the man kneeled right in the dirt looked down to his companion and asked with a sincere smile. "All done?" She nodded, though lacked a smile back as he reached into his pocket and pulled out another packet of seeds for her. "Now I want you to plant some Nasturtiums for me over there. Could you do that for me?" She nodded again, but this time less with a cheer adorned her cute face as she made a turn to the next patch of dirt- only for the human to stop her short.

"You seem less happy now...let me guess, you find planting seeds a bit boring?"

"Bun..." She tried not to complain, not wanting to seem ungrateful, but also not wanting to lie much either. To her surprise he didn't seem fazed by her soft remark at all. "Yeah, seeds aren't much fun even for me, but you gotta plant them regardless if they're fun or not...though I'm not sure what you can do to help me with, being you are so small and..actually." He pulled out some cloves from his pocket and placed them to the side, making sure she got full view of the bundle of buds. "How about planting some garlic cloves for them. What you gotta do is this:" She watched him push two fingers right into the dirt, shoving the dirt down and away as he made a hole about 8cm down. "Make a hole like this then place the clove tapered tip up like so, and cover with dirt." He worked through his sentence as he explained. "Plant the next clove about 15cm apart." He wiggled his finger over an area about the length away from his explanation. "How does that sound?"

"Bun! Bun!" She replied in earnest glee, her new task sounding a lot more intriguing to her. She digged deep like she was shown, using both her paws to to hollow out a hole in the dirt and placed each clove the right way down, caring little for how the earth clung to her dainty fur as she excitedly rummaged through the dirt, not once slowing down until the last clove was placed in, and even then she jumped excitedly around her own self-planted patch as she took joy from feeling fulfilled with her work. And now, all she has to do is wait for the seeds to grow, a process that takes many...many...many weeks…

"Bun..." She sighed aloud, a sense of disappointment now upon her as the full true realization kicked in: It will take quite a while for her plants to grow. Quite a long while. She didn't see that as fair, she went through all the trouble to plant the cloves and she has to wait so long to know until they sprout, let alone fully develop. How would she know she planted them right? She wanted to know she has done a good job right now.

"...Eary." She crouched down in defeat, bending her knees as her head covered over the planted clove. Nothing, not even a bulge in the dirt. Just how long…

"Yeah, I know the feeling of anticipation can drag on for a long while." She turned her head to see Todd looking away from her with an encouraging smile. "In all honesty, I was like you the first time I was taught how to plant. So impatient, waiting for the stalks to shoot out, I actually thought they'd grow right before me like super-charged bamboo. Of course, they didn't, and I had trouble accepting that. He he, I was such a brat back then as well, almost threw myself a tantrum." He finally looked down to her with his beaming eyes. "But would you like to know what my parents taught me help with my impatience of the slow growing?"

She slowly nodded her head as she wondered just what he had in store…

Buneary watched him silently as he took out an old yogurt pot and placed it down in front of her, then lining the inside with cotton wool, shoving the wool deep into it without saying why as he held out his palm to her, offering some small brown seeds for her to take.

"These are cress seeds. They're small but easy to grow, and they grow quite quickly too, about a week at most, even on top of the soil." She blinked in a little confusion. "See, what I want you to do is plant these seeds into the pot for me-however, I won't be the one watering them every day, _you _will be." He paused for dramatic effect. "It is now your responsibility to ensure these seeds getting watered and catered to every day, checking at least twice per day. I won't remind you nor do it for you, it is completely in you're control to make sure they grow."

Buneary looked in shock at hearing him say this to her. She knew she had to help him, but to let her grow these plants all by herself seemed nearly absurd to the Rabbit Pokemon.

"Every day you'll be able to see these plants slowly grow and form with your very own eyes. And the best part is, once they are fully grown you can eat them whenever you want, each sprout yours for the snacking."

"NEARY?" She awed at hearing him say that. She gets to eat the food she grew, all hers for the taking. "Fancy having a go with this."

"**BUN!**" She yelped so loudly his eardrums threatened to bust, and he tried not to look so shocked in front of her as he grinned threw the small pain, watching the small thing go as she took each and every seed in his palm and dropped them on the cotton wool, settling down harmlessly on the top without so much as making a noise as Todd pulled out a small plastic water bottle, taking off the top of pouring some of the basic water into the upside down lid. "Use the lid to top up the moisture of the cress. I'll pour the rest of this into a bowl for you. For now, it's your own personal watering can. Understand?" She nodded vehemently as she took the lid in her hands, and quickly switching to a more precise and careful movement slowly topped up the cress seeds in the pot, dropping the lid off to the side as she stared down with wonder in her eyes, watching the water be soaked up by the cotton and the seeds.

"Come now." Todd had to ruin the fun as he grabbed the cress pot from her. "It will still take a while for anything to happen. Besides, the best thing to do right now is to place them someplace they can get the best sunlight." She reluctantly let it go, jumping from the table to the counter as she stepped right by the pot as it was placed on the windowsill, in direct sight for the sun to beam it's heavenly ways down on the under nourished seeds.

"Bun bun!" She called to him in her native tongue. "Buneary Bun. Bun-neary Buneary." She pointed her paw to the cress as emphasis for...something. "Buneary Bun?" The Buneary-word-sprouting Buneary questioned him with a quizzed look, all she said was lost on the befuddled human.

"Yes that...does sound implausible...I think?" He answered as best he could as the Pokemon just looked at him with as much as a confused expression as he wore, the question she spoke did not detail an impossible action becoming a result...not even close.

"Sorry. I can't exactly understand Pokemon, even though you can understand what I'm saying perfectly well...strangely enough that is...so I don't think you trying to talk to me will end up with understandable results." He calmly explained as he leaned onto the counter on his elbows, resting his chin on his hand as he looked to the tiny one standing on the sill. "It's a shame you can't speak human languages, unlike other Pokemon that can talk..." A bulb figuratively sparkled from above his head as an idea was placed into the farmers mind.

"Actually, I think it's entirely possible for you to speak human if you were taught it. I've heard some other Pokemon speak rather fluently a number of times before in my life. As weird as it may seem to ask, but would you like to learn with me. I could try and teach you. Can't be that hard, right?"

The Pokemon in question tapped at her chin in deep thought. She saw no harm in it, not as if that would make her spill the beans on her own awkward subjects if she didn't want it...Could it? Naw, that sounds just plain silly. Plus, this Todd is quite lovely to be around, and more so when he talks to her, so if she can talk back, they could hold quite some grand conversations.

"Bun!" She nodded, making up her mind quite quickly as Todd just smiled down at her, beginning to tap his chin just like her as he thought the plan for her introduction to speaking human.

"Well...all you can say in 'Buneary' and words in between. So to start off, can you try saying just 'Near' for me?"

"Near?" She replied slowly, not used to having her title being spoken in such a different way.

"Good. Now how about just 'Ear' for me?"

"Ear!" She cheered aloud, finding ease in speaking this way.

He nodded to her. "Okay. Now let's go up a level and try something different. Trying saying 'Fun'."

"...un?" Her mouth not used to pronouncing such a letter as she struggled figuring out how to say f through her 'Buneary' voice.

"Like this: Fun. Fffff-un. Purse your lips like I do." The sounds of air piercing out his lips came as he resonated the sound of the sixth letter. "Ffff-un."

She pursed her lips like him as she blew air out her lungs, trying her hardest to reproduce the forigen letter from her limited lexicon. Todd never laughed down to her, only encouraging her with calming words as Buneary refused to give up on herself.

"Ffffff-fun!" Seh shocked herself with how clear the letter came. "Fun!" She shouted, as the full realization hit her hard. "FUN! Fun fun fun!"

"Good job." Todd complimented with a loving head rub as Buneary ate it all up ravishingly. Not minding at all when Todd looked up to the clock and noticed what time it was. "Looks like were going to have to continue more of this later. I soon need to get to the farmers market before I lose my spot." A small grin lit up on his face as he looked down to her. "Fancy helping my uproot a good number of my veggies?"

"Bun." He already knew the answer as they prepared themselves to get to work once again.

* * *

After an arduous while of gathering up the veggies, picking off the berries and tomatoes, uprooting some big pumpkins and courgettes, and pulling out the last of the onions Buneary was sure they must have taken out half the garden, at least. She couldn't tell, giving her height, but she felt like she had ripped out half the garden herself, quite exhausted with the day- and it's not even noon.

But being a little tired won't stop her not at all, even as her body urged her to cool down she continued to help the human without complaint, loading all the vegetables into a large crate in his shed for him… a much taller and larger one at that. A metal one, even bigger than his wheelbarrow, too high for her to reach herself.

Todd opened the two large doors, letting the light inside so Buneary could see just what this crate was about: It wasn't just that alone, but standing tall in the middle of the shed was something she had never seen before.

"Hop on. We've got a busy day ahead." He called to her as he patted his legs, sitting atop the strange looking machine on a seat. It wasn't too tall for her to jump up, but still her mind wavered to the thought of what Todd was doing on this metallic creation as it stood by itself right in the centre of the shed.

Still, she had a job to do, and if he thinks it's fine, then she trusts him enough to know it's safe. As such she bounced over and onto him, resting down on his lap as he so wanted her to do.

A slight part of her wondered just what was he going to do now, but a sudden eruption of engine-powered monstrosity nearly made her jump in fright the moment the oblivious Todd turned the key in the ignition and set it aflame with power.

Buneary never expected that, nor did she expect the thing to move as her weight was suddenly shifted backwards, the helpless small Pokemon being practically forced to slam into the human's torso as the machine rode out the shed and into the open, the vehicle being driven over the pathway while the driver looked forward with an inattentive smile, not at all noticing the female riding atop his lap clinging onto his jacket with dear life.

"Into the farmers market we go!" Todd announced like a battlecry as the ride moved onward.

She did not like this! No not at all, she liked being riding by the human, not by this metallic, unfeeling machine! She prayed to Arceus she would get through this alive and without injury.

And also without soiling his trousers by accident as well.

* * *

It was a good thing she went to the bathroom before taking a ride on that..._heinous_ thing otherwise his undergarments would be very wet by now. So very damp...and smelly…

By the time he finally stopped that vehicle she felt dizzy and rather lethargic from the whole affair, as Todd placed her carefully to the ground and stepped away she didn't, or couldn't, move to help him as she took a few minutes to adjust to the sensation of unmoving ground, Praising the glorious-ness that is the ground.

"Buneary, come on. I need your help with something." His call got her out of the trance as she quickly hopped over to him, not forming any resistance as he picked her up and put her on this wooden table. She did a quick sweep of her area to regain her instinctual position of her surroundings.

On the table stood all the vegetables the two have gathered, sorted out into small trays for each piece of food. They wasn't what got her main attention, what was was the sight of countless other stalls littered every, with a lot more humans around. Many of them, sometimes with other Pokemon, walked left to right and sometimes the other way.

Her natural instincts told her to flee, not the least bit comfortable with this many strangers in her line of sight. Too many people, nowhere to run or hide, the atmosphere began to feel choking around her neck, darkness beginning to surround her as she needed to run and get away-

Like a candle burning in an open void, acting as a beacon that was completely unaffected by the surrounding shadows, a warm hand grasped her lightly on the shoulder. She looked up in surprise to see the farmer she knew for only a short time lay his hand protectively on her, not too keep her they and hold her down but to remind her he will keep his promise and keep her safe.

Though he wasn't aware her trembling was due to fear, the sheer fact that he is always close by soothed her shaking spirit. Even when outnumbered by this many people she doesn't feel as fearful when she knew this person was close at hand.

"Hey fancy doing me a little favor?" His gentle voice eased any worry in her mind as she agreed to do the job already, somehow knowing full well that she could do it without problem; if it was him handing out the assignments, he wouldn't suggest anything she couldn't handle.

"Could you please place these cards in front of each set of produce for me? I'll tell you where they go, just pop them right where anyone can see." He held in his hands a set of cards for her to take and place over the goods up front. She did not hesitate to set the cards in front of each group of produce, setting them out after he spoke each name in his eloquent voice. It only took a minute for her to be done, with her quick speed and precise jumps she placed each card in his respective spot in just a minute.

She loved the head pats she received from him right after, a job well done with verbal praise of "Good...job there Buneary." She relished his touch as he looked on her job well done.

Mostly. Each card was not double-sided, and she had not realized all the cards she placed down were facing the seller himself, not at the front for the customers.

...Eh, a small problem he could fix.

It only took a few minutes for the farmer and his fateful companion to receive their first customer, an elderly old woman stumbling by as she inspected the wares he had on sale. Despite her more senile age, Buneary still shuffled a bit close to her only human friend with the gaze of the much taller human coming at the front of the stall.

"What's this now?" The aging woman shifted the glasses over her eyes as she looked down to the section of greens he had on sale. "Celery that low? My, you'd barely make a price out of that even if you managed to sell them all today."

"That's perfectly fine with me really." He cheerfully replied back without hesitation or resentment for her statement. "I make a point to charge less and focus on those that can afford very little. I'm not here to become rich-just wanting to give a little back to the community."

"Well it's nice to see there's some good people left in this world." The elderly woman smiled sincerely as she pulled out her purse from her handbag. "I'll take a dozen celery sticks, and five tomatoes then."

"Of course, madam." Todd pulled out a paper bag from the side and began to load the desired veggies, Buneary just making sure to keep her senses aware with the woman as said OAP read the sign at the front of the market stall: "No chemicals, hormones or altered genetics?"

"No sir, I only use natural repellents, and the only pesticides I use is organic. Can't be poisoning my own produce now, can I." He replied in cheer as he finished loading up the bag. "Here you are madam."

"Should be the correct change here." The woman offered up some coins for the man to take, but he didn't make a move to grab them as he held both his hands on the bag. "Say Buneary?" He looked down to his little companion. "Both my hands are full. Would you please take the change from the lady for me?" The simple thought of coming close to the stranger gave the Pokemon an uneasy mind, not including having to go near her hands as well. She may be old, but she still much bigger than the Pokemon.

...But, Todd did nicely ask her to. And he was right there, in case anything might happen. If he believed she would be fine…

She made a shuffled forward closer to the woman, slowing down when in arms-reaching distance as she tentatively held out her hands for the loose coins. Ready to pounce away at any moment. It was thankfully the woman was so old, and her own movements so enervated by nature, as this meant Buneary hadn't had a need to flinch when her hand calm close and dropped the coins onto the Pokemon's waiting hands.

"Why thank you cute one." The elderly praised as her now freehand came over and patted the Buneary softly onto her head, making a stride away and leaving the stall as Buneary slowly regained herself from that sudden touch.

She liked it. It wasn't as nice as the human known as Todd, but human contact felt nice to have. Maybe being out here isn't so bad after all.

The two ran his stall for the next few hours, slowly making there way through the selling of produce minute by minute as Buneary enjoyed each moment. She helped out a lot, taking change from the customers as he gathered up the wanted foodstuff. She lightly wished she could do more than just take change from them, but she at least felt a sense of pride in doing a good day's worth of helping out.

Plus a good number of the customers called her cute and petted her, so that was quite a nice bonus.

She also got to enjoy a nice lunch brought by the farmer, a lovely sandwich she gets to tuck into as she nibbled away at the food, the two taking a short break for their noon dinner, and sharing a meal right beside each other in peace.

"What do you think about today then?" The farmer asked after he swallowed a bite of his own sandwich.

Buneary looked up from her bread and answered in earnest truth: "Fun!"

* * *

"Now try 'Sunny'?"

"Sss...ssss..." The Buenary tried to force those words out as she stood back in the kitchen of her new housing, her feet back on the wooden table as the farmer was trying, and had been trying for nearly half and hour now, to teach the Pokemon how to speak human.

"Sun-ny. Sunny!" She cheered aloud. "Sunny...is...funny!" She laughed along with her human as he nodded in approval.

He tapped his chin as eh thought over the next word to use. "I should try a common phrase like...there. That would be useful...maybe I should shorten it though...Air? That should suffice." He paid his attention back to his verbal disciple. "How about trying so say 'air' for me then?"

"O...Oaah? Owaa? Aaaaaa..." Her obvious struggles with the alien alphabet and speech made her tongue flap about in confusion. "Aaaa...Nee….."

"No, no. You're missing the flow of the word. It's only one symbol. See- air. A-i-r. Try again."

"Aaaiii...ehhhh. No...Aaaaiiii...A...A-eh...Oahhhh-NO!" She threw a sudden fit, kicking at the table beneath as she bitterly cursed her tongue. Her frustration present on her face as she sunk her rear into the ground, letting out a "Hmph" in irritation from her failure. Todd just gave her a warm smile as he comforted her cutely.

"Don't be so hard on yourself, Buneary, it's not your fault you're having trouble." A thumb scratching at the back of her head seemed to help a little in settling down her dissatisfied spirit. "You cannot force yourself to be better, you just gotta keep trying. When you get upset, you make mistakes, and if you keep pushing yourself too hard you're never gonna get anywhere." She heard him full well, though the stubborn part of her refused to relent her failures being dropped.

"The best thing you ever need to do when stuck in a rut is to put it aside for a moment and take your mind off it. Go off for a while, then come back with a fresh mind and attitude. Trust me it does work." She finally eased off a little, giving a curt, but true nod, sighing aloud as Todd let off her side.

"Here, why not take a break now. Go outside and have fun for a bit, we can try again soon. How does that sound?" She smiled a little now, nodding again with more energy this time as the thought of a little time alone sounded quite relaxing.

"Off you pop then." She hopped away, bouncing with soul out the door and past the garden, jumping up onto the end of the wall and taking a good look to the outside world; the trees, the meadow, the creek, all quiet yet brimming with their own life untouched by human hands. With a singular jump she bounded away, off into the open world.

Now, it isn't as if she hated her time with Todd, far from it, in fact she would see him as a good friend if she had to choose one way or another, but she had missed her time in the open. Before she hadn't cared much for time alone, largely due to her having to scavenge for food or hide from predators, but with the knowledge there's a human not too far away that would protect and feed her, any abstinence from enjoying oneself with restraint out here was gone. She just wanted some time to play and have fun.

The meadow seemed like a good place to start: with rows upon rows of flowers in many pretty colours she wanted to just simply frolic through them, undisturbed with any sense of fear or hunger, she could now smell their lovely scents as she jumped over the petals, picking out any flowers that made gained her interest. Not that she would know their names, she just liked how they looked. Actually, with so many around she wondered if she could try and make a daisy chain for Todd...as thanks for giving her this break, that is. It _was _his idea.

Her peripheral vision caught sight of something bright and beautiful close by, of lilac in shade standing up through the soil. Flowers of a most peculiar shape, spreading out but not to the sky like most do, but dangling off the stalks and shooting downwards, like lopsided flowers that's hiding something within its petals. She had never seen flowers like these before, but she wish she had, as any this delicate could make for something really beautiful..or perhaps even tasty-

"I wouldn't stand too close..." A sudden voice, a different voice resounded from behind Buneary's back. The Pokemon jumped away in fright, creating distance between her and the unknown vocalizer. Before her stood another human, a lanky human with hair so dark they gave no shine, wearing nothing else but pitch-black clothes looking down to her with his bright eyes, one coloured blue the other...green, it almost looked as if. That seemed a little strange to her, false even, she'd never saw a human, or any creature with bicoloured eyes before. No...surely that isn't possible, it must just by the way the light is bouncing of his irises, at least she thought this was the case.

"Those flowers you see before you are Fairy Bell's, and despite their pretty looks, there are in fact very toxic, especially to a mortal as small as you." His words were slow and deep, not slurred but completely relaxed in tone, almost monotone if he wasn't smiling all the while. "If you'd happen to go slumber underneath such a flower, you'd forever be in an endless sleep."

This human felt a little off to the Pokemon. Not because he seemed to set off her fear alarms, but actually because his presence didn't give her any feeling of unease, or even suspicion. It was almost otherworldly of his existence, at least to her instinctual level.

"Of course, even the most dangerous of organisms are not without their own special merits." He slowly bent down to pick off the stalk of the Fairy Bell flowers with his bare hands, only his fingertips actually touching the plant. "These may be extremely dangerous when left untreated, but with the right knowledge and skill, they could develop into a part of some very important medicine, one that even modern doctors have trouble recreating." He popped off one of the flowers and deftly gave a long lick upon one if its petals with not so much as care for the words of deadly poison he sprouted mere seconds ago.

"Mind you; if the words of deadly toxin don't deter you from consuming these flowers, I'll at least leave you with the knowledge that these taste quite terrible indeed." He cringed from the taste, seemingly, before he made a singular turn upon the grassy plains, his back now to the Buneary as he made a silent walk away, disappearing as suddenly as he appeared before her.

It took her a few seconds to realize she was fully alone, his mere presence felt so minute she never fully felt she was with another in the first place. Almost like a walking ghost, this person just came and went without a care in the world.

She looked around herself, to the floor, to see the small flowers of daisy's around her feet, and a quick blink to remind herself why she was here in the first place, a few picked off flowers still laden in her paws. She had realized she knew so little about them, what they were called, or even if they were toxic-

She dropped them all, wiping her hands on the grass to remove any traces of them before picking up a daisy from the open plain, the small head nothing more than a dot in the middle of this long meadow. But there was a lot more Daisy's in this stretch of nature, enough for more than a few rings.

But she only needed one, and taking her time she picked and created her chain, a gift being made for him when she returns. It will take a short while, but that was fine with her, a break feels nice, especially when knowing she would see him soon enough.

* * *

Dawn has risen, shining it's glorious light through an opening in the curtains, the golden shine hitting the Buneary's eyelids, taking only mere moments for her to be brought out of her restless sleep, blinking awake as the sun accidentally forced away from her loving slumber. Pushing herself away from the bed the tired Pokemon walked over to the window, rubbing at her sleepy eyes she jumped up to the windowsill and passed the closed curtains, letting her drowsy eyes set focus onto the garden below, the brilliant shine may be too bright on her listless eyes but the brightness did not diminish the state of his happy garden, already the plants she planted were slowly growing in the soul. Weeks they may take, but the wait will be worth it.

A creak in the old bed behind her got her attention, though there was no need to look around to know what that meant. "Someone's awake already." A yawn occured right after the statement as the human stood up from his bed.

"Morning." The word was not spoken by the human pushing himself to open the blinds but by the little Buneary down below.

She was getting better by the day, already had moved on to say more complicated words, and will continue to do after the lessons of today.

"Breakfast?" Despite her fast learning more eloquent sentences were still a far away target, and shortened words and phrases were the best she can muster up for the moment being. But it was more than enough for now, and every lesson meant more and more steps closer to talking proudly to him.

But now it was time for breakfast. Lessons later, food now, in Buneary's own words.

After a quick morning meal, dressing in his normal clothes, and a small interval of Buneary pouring water into her cress seeds all by herself, the two were ready for another day of gardening on this way too hot morning.

He could feel the sweat dripping down his face before he even stepped a foot outside, his pillow streaked with sweat during the warm night, he could already see he was in for a world of exhaustion today.

The first step for the two was general watering, uneventful but important nonetheless, before he moved on to his next step; which involved some liquid kept inside a spray bottle.

"Remember when I left you for a bit by the T.V. while I went off to do something?" She nodded as she remembered; the two were sitting peacefully on the sofa, her sitting quite nicely on his lap before he placed her aside to run off to do something for a few minutes. She felt a little queefed about him leaving her there; not because he never explained to her what he was doing, but because she didn't like her seat running off like that. She was quite comfortable as well, his lap so warm and welcoming.

"Well It's because I almost forgot to do this." He shook the old spray bottle in his hand. "I don't like using pesticides, too many dangerous chemicals can soak into the soil, so that's why I do stuff like keep Spinarak around my garden, as they build webs to help catch harmful pests. One trick I've found really helpful is to soak some Tobacco leaves in water overnight, then straining it in the morning, and the result is natural pest deterrent." He explained as he led Buneary away to the grey stone walls. "Now you don't spray the veggies directly, but around the perimeter, like the walls." He squirted a few shots of his bottle onto some parts of the wall, dampening the old bricks while the Pokemon jumped atop the sides. "Simple as that."

The Rabbit Pokemon took a light sniff by the spray surface, her curiosity pondered what the smell of the liquid would be like, only to recoil immediately when the whiff got into her nose, for this time wishing her not to always be so curious as she held her nose, her ears twitching as she made she to walk some steps away. "Ack...Stuff...bad. Bad stuff. Yucky stuff." He laughed, though more with her than at her as he breathed outward.

"I know, but it's effective at least. Just bare with the smell, you get used to after a while."

"Don't...beliet you." She said through her muffled orifice as she held up her fleece to her nose, walking with him with some reluctance as the smell lingered all over the walls as he sprayed. She kept her focus on him with crossed eyes, not liking this job one bit.

"Do be sure to spray along the trees as well, as this helps prevent Kalosian Elm Disease." She nodded, not wanting to breathing in any more of that foul stuff via speaking. "Though be sure not to get it anywhere near any Pokemon, last time I did that a Ariados chased me around half my garden."

"Bwa-ha-ha URK!" She flinched when the smell hit her now open nostrils.

"...Sorry." He couldn't help but chuckle a bit at her expense.

* * *

It was getting later into the day as the two continued their debilitating but rewarding work, inspecting the vegetables, searching through and throwing away any bad plants, Buneary listening on as he explained the different types of pests and diseases she should look out for.

Not that she would remember so much. Too much information for her to take in, but she tried to nonetheless. It was a nice day at least, warm and sunny, and a cup of cool L and L by the side should she feel parched. Life was good.

But a little nagging thought was hitting at the back of her mind. Or rather, her stomach, as a little rumble from inside her torso signified her hunger. It was still a while to go before lunch, and she would not eat before finishing her job, as he explained to her before.

So when she huddled over to the tomato plants, and feasting her eyes on the biggest, ripest, reddest vegetable (fruit…?) she had ever laid eyes, she could not help but drool over her chin as it shone in the sunlight. It looked so juicy, so ready to be eaten, it was practically begging to have the Rabbit Pokemon open her mouth and shove the giant red piece of nutrition sunk deep into her gullet-

"Be careful of the tomatoes. The plant itself is poisonous if ingested." The sudden warning from the human has caused her to clamp her trap shut, both her paws enclosing her jaw as he froze on the spot, highly thankful her back was omitting her front so he did not just see what she was about to turn into mush with her mouth. Slowly, the tense Buneary leaned around, her paws still over her face as she lightly nodded, eyes wide as she tried her best to act casual, hoping acting casual meant looking like a confused Espurr.

He didn't seem to notice anything out of the ordinary, though, so Buneary could at least walk away without him ever knowing just what she was about to-

"Oh, and if you're hungry, you can have one of the smaller ones."

A thousand apologies were running through Buneary's head when he unexpectedly spoke this, all directed to him to make amends for nearly accomplishing the illegal act of-

Eh, he said it was okay to have one, so she did, popping off a cherry tomato and flicking the whole thing right into her mouth with honest skill, letting the juice ooze around her mouth before swallowing the whole thing in one gulp.

She rubbed her belly from the delicious taste, the lingering sweet oomph that is a cherry tomato remained on her taste buds while she calmly walked away from the plant.

With her eyes closed, which was proven to be a bad idea by herself once before as a sudden memory of Deja-Vu was upon her as something sticking out the ground caused her to trip and fall right into the dirt.

She quickly brushed herself off when she jumped back, brushing out the soil from her fleece as she turned around to see her culprit. Right down there on the floor did a root stick right out of the ground, a very leafy plant attached to a thick brown piece of underground plant-where it should have stayed. Buneary picked at the lightly brown root jutting out the soil, rubbing off the dirt as she inspected it.

She had never seen such a plant, and taking a little whiff from her nose she smelled something quite peculiar from it. It smelt...inviting a quick glance to her to the human assured her he wasn't paying any attention to her, his back was even facing her.

She grinned devilishly to the unsuspecting root, not just for her hunger that was unfortunately barely sated by the little tomato, but for revenge for making her fall right into the dirt. She licked her lips from anticipation- she was only gonna nibble on it, nothing major, it would still be good right after, her justification for eating some of the root.

She brought it forward, hovering her teeth right over the still plant as the enamel made contact with the root, and in a swift cut Buneary struck down with her teeth, biting off just the smallest graze on the root as the piece hit her tongue.

Within seconds a number of things begin to happen to the Buneary; her face turned red, her eyes began to water, than her stream started to flow out her ears-

"Did I just hear a train whistle?"

Pain was reciting itself all over her mouth as bitterness was destroying her tongue, her body feeling like she was changing into a fire-type- or least now knows flamethrower as the sensation of fire erupted from her poor mouth.

"Hot-Hot-HOT!" She screamed as she bounced all over the pace fanning out her mouth as the heat spread all over her body, sweat beading down her forward, yelling out words of heat as she jumped around the place.

As if driven by instinct alone the Buneary quickly but painfully darting out the garden as she made a beeline to the creek not too far away, diving right into the water with a feircesome splash when she was at the water's edge, bubbles slowly rose to the surface in the area she jumped in as her body hid underneath the water.

And for just a few seconds, all seemed peaceful.

"Yelp!" Cried the Buneary as she appeared above the water's surface, jumping straight out the water with a bound as she skip over the water back to the dry ground. While the pain from her mouth was thankfully gone, lost in the large pool of water, it had sadly been replaced with a new, different pain, this one directed at her backside as she felt like something heavily pinched her tuchus. She rubbed at her rear, feeling a big ouchie all over her tail.

Or what was left of it. Looking behind her, she noticed a big bald mark on her lovely fluffy tail, her pale skin shone underneath as she was left with a big hairless mark on her posterior.

Looking at her from the creek a Corphish spied on her with its big detached eyes, as right in its right claw did a piece of Buneary fluff held in its pincer. Slowly, the Corphish descended down the water, not leaving any parting words for the Rabbit Pokemon nor did it attempt to make any expression upon its face, as it disappeared into the water like a dropped stone.

Fuming, the damp Buneary stamped her foot on the ground as she yelled some choice words to the naughty Ruffian Pokemon, words that would make a grandma faint if Todd hadn't made sure not to teach the Buneary certain curses not fit for a family picture.

* * *

The morning glow permeated through the cracks in the closed curtains, like always the bright but comforting light would make for a clean way to wake up to, at least in Todd's own mind, if the shine would graze over the human's eyes.

But the sounds of crashing was not what Todd had expected to wake up from; his daily routine of waking up per the crack of dawn by the rays of the sun alone had became a common, but welcome occurrence for his normal life. But the brightness of the light had not been what caused his waking from his slumber, but instead the sounds of yells and screeches, noises of things being hit against one another, all from an unknown source as the human, dazed and confused blinked and rubbed his eyes to assess the situation.

He pushed himself off the wooden floor, throwing away the bedding as his tired body almost stumbled over himself as his legs wobbled from the sudden forcibly awakening. The din that was banging and smashing sound close by, outside even. And without any distractions Todd rushed to the window and pulled away both curtains to see the sight in front of him.

He became immediately distressed at what his eyes say past the glass barrier: down below Buneary was raging a one-Pokemon war against a murder of Murkrow, as flying above his garden the flying/dark type were encircling his vegetables, diving-bombing down with fury as Buneary was screaming her heads off; swatting at any Darkness Pokemon should they get to close to the farmer's livelihood, and using her powerful ears to swing rocks at those hovering too far above.

Yet despite her ferocity it was clear she was in a losing battle, outmatched ten to one she had little chance to win this war, she was no fighter nor was she one that liked attacking others greatly, meanwhile all the Murkrow had no internal dilemma with swooping down and pecking their beaks onto the frightened Buneary, diving down to make her scram as they only cared for procuring the ensemble of food not meant for any of them.

Todd didn't bother to scream for waiting, as immediately the shortly dressed man jumped away from the glass border as he made a mad dash downstairs, not caring for the pain he felt as he careened into a corner wall, pushing himself away as he forced himself down the stairs and to the front door, not once wondering when she unlocked it earlier as he pulled it all the way out and witnessed the scene in front of him.

Though Buneary fought hard, having no deed in relenting to the flying-type's demands, she could not fight forever, and more so not focus on protecting all sides as her attention was any that came too close, this in turn led her unfortunate demise as one Murkrow saw it's opportunity with her back turned, Buneary not seeing the hovering Pokemon glare down in irritation as the pesky self-made guardian of this garden and launched it's attack, charging down with its beak pointed right at the singular Pokemon as it dive-bombed down, like a blade cutting through the air as Buneary only realized the attack too late- all she could do when she saw the powerful beak coming her way was to gasp right before the Peck hit her dead down, smashing into her with enough force not to just knock her back but to also slam the weakened Pokemon right in the stone wall, too weak to not even give out a scream of pain as she dropped limp to the floor like a stone.

"Buneary!" Todd cried as he saw it coming too late for him to interject himself into the fight, watching with horror at seeing his small companion get thrown like an unwanted rag doll onto the solid rocks. She didn't stand back up, or give out a cry of pain after she fell down to the grass, all her body could do was tremble in anguish and misery as she completely failed her selfless attempt.

The Murkrow hovering above seemed to _laugh _at the failed plight of the Buneary, cackling away as the swarmed overhead, not at all caring for her side of the story, or why she did this all on her own…

Todd wasn't just angry, he was _fuming _when he heard the flying-types above having a guffaw at his friend being in such pain, someone as kind and cheerful as she did not deserve to be tossed around like that. Someone who was going out of her way to save his garden even when he'd never ask her to go that far…

"GET LOST!" Todd screamed to the skies above. "PISS OFF RIGHT NOW! THE LOT OF YOU!" His rage surprised the Murkrow, albeit only slightly as the paid their attention to the human shouting words of abuse up at them. "Go on! You filthy flying buggers, get the fuck away from here!" Ha gathered some small stones that laid upon the ground as he threw them high into the air, startling the Pokemon as they dodged his throws, circling above as they continued to laugh down, his own attempts to scare them off was met only by ridicule as they wasted little energy dodging his fire.

The farmer's hands were trembling with offense at seeing the Murkrow still seeing the funny side of this, never before has he met such a disgusting group of Pokemon, ones he immediately began to hate, and know that simple rocks won't be enough.

"Alright." He spat as he stared daggers to the flying-types before making a turn back inside. The Murkrow that watched him leave all began to laugh even harder at seeing him turn and leave in frustration, not at all noticing him return but a few seconds later out the door, lit match intertwined in his fingers as he held a long tube in his hands. He stroked the match against a string attached to an end of the tube, sparking up the thread as he quickly waved the match out.

The Murkrows were still too busy laughing their arse's off notice the human point out his tube directly upwards, aiming like a sniping rifle at the ignorant Pokemon high above as he stared with true hate towards them all.

All their verbal abuse was cut short as a sudden fireball came shooting out the sky, almost singeing one of the Murkrow's hat-shaped head feathers as the collective locked eyes to the origin of the sudden mass of shooting flame-only to be given enough time for them to dodge the next shooting ball of burning hatred as Todd marched forward with his weapon in hand.

"When I say piss off, I mean PISS OFF!" The Murkow squawked in both fear and confusion at seeing this human fire balls of sparkling flame at them. "Get lost the lot of yah! Go on, get!" The Darkness Pokemon all began to shuffle over one another in the sky, being too freaked-out to form a coherent plan in their heads and instead just trying their best not to be hit by the burning fire!

"I said GET LOST!" He yelled with authority as another fireball came out fried the tail of one of the Murkrow, hopefully the same one that slammed Buneary right into the wall moments prior, causing this to begin fleeing in the opposite direction of the fireball-spewing farmer, the rest soon following as words of spite came out in their native tongue to the human as they soon disappeared into the distance, leaving for now as the fireballs died down, and stopped completely.

He dropped the Roman Candle immediately as he made a beeline to the still Buneary, carefully picking her up in his hands as he looked over her body: She was bruised, badly, but her chest still rose and fell, no blood came seeping out nor did any of her bones appear broken. Even still, she was in pain as he could hear her give out tiny whimpers from simply raising her chest to breathe, coughing out as Todd watched with horror.

Holding her dearly, Todd quickly carried her back inside, grabbing the tin of medical supplies from atop the drawers he moved her into the living room, settling down on the couch with her placed on his lap as he opened the tin and rummaged through the set of medical supplies and picked out the elastic bandages.

Buneary, despite her immensely weakened state was highly conscious of her surroundings, even after being shoved into a wall she never fainted fully, instead through her lidded eyes she saw it all: Todd firing out those balls of fire onto those disgusting Murkrow, watching with her unmoving body as he scared them off, then taking a quick turn to her, grabbing her softly in his hands as he carried her back inside.

Her ears could hear it all, sentences of fear being uttered out by his trembling mouth, as the human went to work bandaging her up, she picked up on him sending out unanswerable questions her way.

"Why?"

"Why did you go out alone, Buneary, I...you didn't have to do that by yourself. I wouldn't want you to, I would have wanted you to stay inside-to not get hurt. Why did you think you had to do this alone."

_I wanted to prove...I could be useful to you._ Her mouth could not be opened in her state, as instead the weak Pokemon had to resort to thinking her replies to him, little good it would do she knew, but she thought them all the same.

"I'm...sorry Buneary." Droplets began to fall on the small Pokemon as the human above him let his dejection flow, trying through teary eyes to secure the bandages over her badly injured head. "I'm sorry I couldn't save you in time...I just feel so useless now. Feel like such a bloody idiot."

If she could have moved sharply she would, at least a paw to comfort him, to tell him it wasn't him at fault. All she could do was twitch her arm his way, sliding it over to meet and touch just his shirt.

"Your debt has been repaid GODDAMMIT! I'm sorry, alright, I'm sorry I let you be in this situation. I should have told you you are free to go when I could, instead I forced you to stay with me just because I wanted some companionship. Why did I have to be so selfish to you? You could already have been safe."

"But I want...to stay with you...forever..." Through sheer force she managed to whisper that out through a shaky breath, so quiet Todd could not hear it through his grief. Instead, his unknown reaction was to carefully hold her up in his hands and pull her close to her, hugging her tightly but softly to his chest as he sniffed from his anguish caused by his own self-proclaimed fault.

"I promise: that from now on I'll always be there to protect you, no matter what so long as I am around, even if you never want you stay here anymore I'll make sure you never get hurt again." She heard it all, listened to his grief over her, but internally denied wanting to agree with that statement. Her own sense of both thanks and atonement for her selfish misdeeds left her wanting to care for him, to protect him the way he already tried to protect her…

She wanted…"To stay by your side for always...Todd..."

As he cried, he didn't notice the ethereal glow emanating from her body, the shining pure light began to glow so bright even the sorrow-filled human could not ignore it anymore as he watched with wide-eyes the Buneary he once knew glowing like the stars themselves before his very eyes, filling up the living room with a white flare as in between his arms Buneary's form shifted and altered, the bandages he just put on we're slowly being forced open and dropped to the floor, as if its use was no longer required for the glowing spirit.

She began to feel heavier in his arms, the bright low that engulfed her began to change as well as the amorphous shape of her started to grow, becoming bigger by the second, her weight growing so rapidly he could not hold her any longer, letting the glowing body rest her weight on his lap as two of the amorphous shapes protruding from the ethereal centre wrapped themselves around his form, almost hugging him as the body started to shift over to him and-

With a flash the light's were all gone, disappeared and returning the living room back to its original state, only the natural light of the sun highlighted the room. But what had changed was the sudden new creature in Buneary's place- as instead of the handheld little one that he could carry in his hands instead a much taller and bigger Pokemon seemed to be sitting on his lap; one that was currently cooing and snuggling him dearly, cheerfully so, unaffected by the idea that this was a stranger it was warming up to. But, despite its strange closeness it seemed so eerily similar, her chocolately fur, her soft fleece that was warm to the touch, her comfortableness of being so close to him, all seemed to remind him exactly of-

"...Buneary?" A question he asked both himself and this new Pokemon as the unknown being stopped snuggling up to him and instead moved away to look him in the eyes, her rosy iris's looked deeply into his own with a soft look. The way she looked at him made it clear what happened to her.

"Did you evolve?"

"Lopunny?" The short question she spoke surprised even her as she realized she her own native speech has changed so suddenly. "Lopunny?" She said louder, covering her mouth in shock at hearing such a word sprout from her own jaw. She then realized how different the hands covering her face where; the fingers were longer, thicks tufts of fleece were attached to each wrist.

"What-" As she made a turn with her head she felt something big and soft reach over to touch her cheek. Looking back she saw how huge her ears had gotten, so gigantic they were now unable to stand up straight but instead had to droop down by her side. She jumped off of him, looking all over her body, how thin but bigger she was now, slimmer but shapely now, stronger as well, she could feel by how developed her muscles had become.

"I've...grown up?" The full realization hit her now as she came to see just how far she has made it. "I've grown up!" She practically danced around the room, jumping all around herself as she tested out her now-found strength and body.

Todd could only watch on with a chuckle, glad, not just that she was now in back to full health, but happy for her growing up. He hadn't realized she wanted to evolve, not knowing deep down getting stronger was what she wanted to become, even if for her own sake. Despite the sudden shift in emotion that was being done, he couldn't help but laugh with her as she bounced around happily without a care.

A little too less care as her helpless jigging around her new legs was probably not the best idea being she had yet to be used to the new feeling of longer legs, as such it was clearly going to happen, her stumbling backwards from a trip on her very small feet.

Todd seemed to almost predict this could happen as he jumped off from his seat and quickly caught her in his arms holding her by her back as the Lopunny looked up at him seeing the handsome face of the farmer look down upon her, so close she could even-

Pull up both her own arms and grasp the man on his lovely cheeks, tight enough for her to hold him in place as she beamed him a wide smile, sticking her tongue out playfully.

He gave one right back. "I guess you could help me out a lot more now then, Buneary."

"Yes! Fun for Lopunny. Lopunny grow, wants to help out as best she could." She cheered aloud, genuinely feeling happy she could help out a lot more with Todd, even if she had to work every day, she would not feel down if it meant always working alongside Todd.

"...Lopunny it is then. Up you go," he helped her to her dainty feet, grateful she was with the help, there was a small lingering desire of hers to remain in that position a little longer, "I guess we'd better get around to making some readjustment now your bigger." She tilted her head cutely as he began to speak of what to do next, not completely sure where he was going with this, but sure she was going to like what he had in store for her.

"I have an old spare bedroom for you to take, now your too big to sleep with me now." Okay, maybe not _ALL_ the things he had in store sounded that good.

* * *

Now that Lopunny was much bigger, everything didn't seem as bad now. Now she was taller and stronger, strolling in the open meadow didn't leave her with any sense of awareness of dread, even without the backdrop of his home in sight, she felt no reason to fear the open. She felt like an adult now, able to hold her own, with stronger stamina, running farther and jumping higher than anything she could have predicted before. But most importantly, she felt so much more useful now she was a Lopunny.

She could help out Todd in ways much grander than before, practically able to do anything and everything he could do; digging into the ground with a spade, pulling up roots were not even a slight problem, watering, planting, throwing away all this was child's play compared to what it would have been like before her evolution. She felt so satisfied now, feeling like such a useful part of Todd's life, helping him out with whatever he needed help with next.

By the time the next farmer's market had come, she felt joyful to go back and meet more lovely people, believing she could help him out so much more than before. Happily strolling behind him as he drove to the village on his tractor- her insistence on that vehicle being she liked to walk there, not because she was still afraid of the inorganic creation, or anything of the sort...obviously...

Todd, for his side, agreed with these remarks towards his companion, with Lopunny helping out with whatever he had planned for the day he could work twice as fast now, everything can be done in record time, including setting up shop as it took a mere minute for them to get everything ready.

Throughout the day, not much has changed from their last time together; people came, ordered their produce and left satisfied with the organic range of food, albeit with a slight change of Lopunny insisting on helping out more, wanting to be as useful as she could, she pleaded to be allowed to bag the produce for the customers. How could he resist those growlithe-looking eyes of hers.?

Not that he needed much of a push to let her, as he was more than happy for her to help out. She had done so well he let her have some freedom to explore, if she wanted. Though she had little fear of being out and surrounded by so many people now, she preferred to be near his side anyway. At least she could deal with a second customer while Todd was busy with his own, such as greeting a new customer, an older woman pushing a stroller with inside the tiniest little-

"Squeeee!" The sharp squeal came so unexpected to the human the tomato he held in his hand fumbled so greatly it was accidentally launched high into the air and landed on his head with an audible **Splat!** The Lopunny never realized this had happened, she too busy focusing on the cutest little thing being carried in the stroller. She had never seen a baby human before, but she wished she had now, as it was the most adorable thing she had ever laid her widened-eyes on.

"Awwwww! Aren't you the most charmin' liddle cutie-wutie?" She called to the human child, who seemed to like the presence of this Lopunny charming herself over her. Todd meanwhile was wiping the red juice off his face, a little disgruntled to waste such a good fruit as well. However, any sense of annoyance by the speaker of the squeel was lost as he watched her play with the tiny tyke.

"Where's baby? Where's baby?" She questioned in a high-pitched, giggly voice hiding her face behind her two big ears. "There's baby!" She cooed cutely as her head jumped out in front her ears, no longer concealing her face behind them as she surprised the little one with delightful amazement, making the young girl to giggle towards the Rabbit Pokemon.

He could not get annoyed, not after seeing that.

Though she felt sad the baby had to leave, she would not shed a tear of grief over the departure, as life is, people come and people go, the mortal world coils and twists, changing it's form, suits in itself whenever it sees fit. One should not fear the change, but instead open their arms to allow what new development life will have in store.

Besides the mother said see you next time, and Lopunny will be sure that it will happen, come rain or shine, she will see that little baby again.

It wasn't lost on Todd how much Lopunny loved playing with the little ones, not the only time that she cooed over little children that day. It was always so cute to see how gentle and patient she was with children. Even as she waved a bunch of little ones off, she still kept her bubbly face on, grinning wide at being happy to play a little with the kids.

"You seem to really adore kids, don't you?" He asked, more rhetorically than not but she responded with an enthusiastic nod all the same.

"Keep that up, I'll have to start naming you 'Honey Bunny'." Lopunny giggled aloud, paws going to her blushing face when he called her that, tittering to herself before throwing her arms around him and bringing him into a warm hug.

He laughed with her, feeling he needs to call her that a lot more often now.

* * *

Lopunny enjoyed making food with Todd; standing beside him and washing the vegetables as he chopped through the next cleaned plant. Truthfully, she liked working with Todd no matter what they were doing, just being alongside him filled with her with an unknown feeling, not a bad or strange one, but a pleasant one, a joyful one, a sensation that made her happy simply by having an existence.

"Ow!"

But it was also one that sometimes made her upset under certain circumstances. Strangely, one that was always caused by Todd suffering in some way. Granted, it was never anything close to tragic, certainly not, but even small things, like bumping into a wall, thinking about how much pain he went through as he tried to catch, or even now, as he accidentally cut his finger with a knife, all gave her a sensation of sorrow for his sake, none of it gave rise to cheer but only for a downing melancholy.

"Ahh." Todd wavered his finger before dropping his blade and reaching for a kitchen tissue close by as he covered up his wound, not wanting to bleed out on Lopunny's nicely cleaned vegetables while Lopunny watched on with sadness, not via guilt or pain, but simply hating to see this nice human having any kind of undeserved discomfort.

She moved instantly, sliding past him and searching through the nearby cabinet to pull out the medical tin she remembered he had used on her not long ago. Quickly she acted, pulling out a sterile cleaning tissue and curtly nudging his hand away as she quickly dabbed at his finger, wiping away the excess blood and keeping pressure on the wound and trying her hardest not to feel bad when he flinched from the contact.

"Thanks...Lopunny." She gave him a comforting smile as she began to bandage his small wound with a plaster, even giving a little kiss over it to help heal the wound, an old lesson taught ages ago she genuinely believed would help.

She never asked for the head pats as thanks for her effort, but she gladly received them all the same, giggling at how nice it felt before he moved on. But despite her smile when his back was turned it vanished quickly. As Lopunny went about the work bandaging him up, she couldn't help but notice how cracked and dry his hands were, not realizing until now how much work his hands had to go through each day. But she wouldn't act on it right now...

"Ah, that was a good meal, right Lopunny?" Todd nearly bust his gut as he finished with his meal, almost burping out loud if it wasn't for the fact across the table sat his companion, finishing up her meal, albeit a lot more dainty as she finished the last nibble of her salad, chewing down the carrot top as all the way she stealthy watched the human eat his meal. The moment he began to relax without a care, was the moment she moved, quietly getting out with her chair and hopping away silently before returning shortly with something in hand.

"Hands please, Todd." Just when Todd felt like tapping a nap his eyes to reveal his Pokemon partner standing right beside him, small green tin in her hand. He questioned her, but she sternly replied with the same request as before, even opening her palm for him to graciously take. Though rather confused about the sudden invitation, he gave both his hand to her for her to calmly take in her own hand, settling the metal tin she carried down on the table for him to see.

"Bag Balm?" He almost forget he still had this in his home, once forgotten about for a long time after a mere misplacement, but now the old tin stood proud on his wooden table. "Lopunny why did you-"

"You skin looks bad on hands. Irridated...tated. Don't like seeing it this way, want to help." She opened up the tin, as she spoke this, grabbing a small dollop of the stuff while opening up both Todd's palms, and slowly she rubbed in the cream between his fingers. She carefully worked the stuff into his skin, rubbing and massaging his poor, aching hands. Doing garden work every day for months on end had taken its toll on the human's hands, his calloused knuckles and cracked fingertips had been aching for so long the farmer saw it as just a part of his life now, almost becoming a symbol of a good day if his appendages ached.

Yet the cool, lovely effect on her massaging his skin with that care cream spoke otherwise of this standard, flickering to life a switch that told him pain and aches should not be a part of his daily life, as she felt her dainty fingers caress over his own, pushing into his palm to spread all over his hands, the charming feeling finally ended when she clasped her hands over both his dorsal side, letting the last of the cream rub all over as she held them still protectively by hers, sandwiching them neatly in place.

She held them still for a good few seconds, the world practically being dead as not a sound was made, with Todd choosing to stay silent until she was done, this left her to be the one to take the initiative. It was only a moment after did Lopunny realize how warm his hands were, how tightly she kept them within hers...how nicely it was to hold his hands.

A sudden warmth permeated her cheeks as she fumbled to look away, deciding to look out the window for no reason other than to think about how near Todd actually was. She felt weirded out she had touched his hand before, gotten close to his sleeping form, so why did now feel different?

"The...weather outside? Is beautiful, yes?" She stammered as she forced her focus onto something over than the human she held hands (kinda) with. She _could _let go, but she didn't actually _want _to, despite how embarrassing it made her feel. The best she wanted to do was change the subject for the human.

He took a good glance outside, it was a hot and sunny evening, so it most certainly would be beautiful this time of the day, especially since the position of the table meant he had a front-line view of the outside world from his front door, yet his attention found it more interested on the Lopunny zealously clasping his hands between hers, the light of the dusk-diving sun glittering through the window, lighting with an evening orange glow.

"Yes, most definitely is beautiful...honey bunny."

* * *

As the days were long, Todd had quite a lot to handle each day, even with the Lopunny by his side always eager to help out there was still so much she had to do each day. And with the summer being so hot it was he wondered when he'll get some of that rotten Galar weather and soon rain, feeling almost like he was in an entirely different region with all this sun and none of that pesky downtrodden precipitation.

But not a single cloud was in the sky, not a single hint of shade from the fluffy white things floating aimlessly in the skies above, so he was left to fight the unbearable heat by himself.

His fatigue came far faster than it should as his unspoken fight with the blazing star became a losing battle out in the open garden, his fatigue setting in too hard, his forehead sweaty, his knees weak and his arms felt heavy carrying the loud as all it took was a single misplaced footing in the dirt for him to keel over forward and hit the ground, slamming to the dirt with a thud so loud it caught the helpful Lopunny off guard.

Lopunny called out his name ran to his side, quickly turning him over to check him over and wipe the soil off his mug. He was breathing, surely, but he was panting deeply as well, having to close his eyes to protect the light from hurting his optical organs. His whole form seemed ragged and slow, his cheeks flushed deep crimson as he barely looked to have enough energy to stand by himself.

She pulled him to his feet with a heave, keeping him standing as the farmer slowly regained himself. Lopunny draped her large ear over him, not so hard with her height being able to reach his shoulder with her chin, while she slowly led him from the garden to the inside, with her hearing, she listened to every crackled breathe he took, the man so tired he his head could barely realize where he was until he was softly dropped onto the coach.

His normal brain function only came to be when she offered him a water bottle from the fridge and quickly drowning himself until the drink was half gone, a small thanks to his companion was spoken right after as he regained himself, as Lopunny looked at him all over. To her, the energetic human she knew had transformed into a slow, weak mess of flesh that looked to be converting all his body fat into sweat.

If this is how humans evolved she rather they always hold an everstone.

The moment he tried to move off was met by Lopunny forcefully pushing him back down, even as was trying to speak her name she interrupted him curtly with a firm statement.

"Not move, you are tired and hot. Need rest, can't go one until you get better."

"I'm fine, Lopunny." He tried to reassure her, but his slow and deep pants did not alleviate her worries, he barely even seemed to be looking at her. "I just had a small heat exhaustion situation, nothing to be worried over, I should be fine now."

"No!" She kept her arms on his shoulders, using force to hold ihm in place as the human could not muster up the energy to fight back. "You are tired, in pain. Do not have fleece like mine, cannot regulate body heat like I can, have on too thick clothes. You. Need. Relaxation. Need to be out this heat, working too hard. I can do jobs for you, have no problem. I am strong and quick enough to get them done."

"Lopunny-"

"Please." A pregnant silence fell as she inhaled for just a second. "Please, Todd, I don't want to see you hurt like this. You can relax now." One of her hands moved off to softly rub his hair, giving him a soft smile to assure his apprehension. "I got this."

A few brief moments passed between the two as Todd thought it over in his down, he knew that Lopunny will not budge on this matter; no matter how hard he would protest to her, that he wasn't feeling as bad as he seemed, he couldn't fake being invigorated in this state.

"Fine." He finally submitted, sighing aloud as Lopunny clapped her hands together, getting what she wanted as Todd couldn't help but smile at her own enthusiasm, the sight of seeing one so eager to work nostalgic to him, a glint that reminded him of her much he saw himself in her. The more he realized, the more laxed he was at letting her work by herself.

"I will make a list of things you'll need to get done by today, if that's what you want. But do know this," she nodded firmly as she actively listened to what he was stating, standing tall and strong in front of him, "If you ever need help, are in trouble, or just don't know what to do: Come to me. Don't try tackling something difficult by yourself and be so stubborn as to refuse to ask for help. _That_, will do more harm than good, trust me, you are not alone here. I know you want me to relax and all, but I won't be able to if I found out your hurt yourself be too adamant to prove yourself. Do you understand that?"

Lopunny's face became serious as she stood straight, almost saluting the farmer with a stern fast expression. "I understand, Todd. You can count on me."

"...Very well then." The Pokemon sighed in relief as she relaxed herself, letting her back droop forward as standing up like that felt very uncomfortable to the largely carefree Rabbit Pokemon. "If you'll get me a pen and paper I will write you a list."

* * *

Lopunny took a big whiff of the open air as she walked out the front door, admiring her surroundings as she entered the garden, in her hand she had a list of chores to do, but more importantly she had a sense of pride and purpose weighing on her heart as she was more than ready to begin her day of independent work. Today, she will prove herself as not just Todd's assistant but as his equal in his work. Today, she will show him how far she has come, and how much she will go for his sake, no matter what, she would not let anything be too overbearing or too impossible, no work will stand in the way of her getting it done.

With a sharp inhale she prepared herself, steeling her will while she held up the list at eye level, reading aloud the first assignment of many that she was sure she would neither complain, falter or not complete altogether, as no matter the choice, by today's end, all would be done as she spoke out the first activity:

"Turn over the compost heap for the next planting."

"Ah...Punny." She swore as she bared her eyes to rotten pile of organic material standing bare over by the side, the heap of old vegetation almost looked to be staring back, silently mocking her with it's pungent smell.

It was certainly going to be a long day for the Pokemon.

She continued for hours, every minute that she could she spent working in the garden, planting, cutting, pulling out or putting back in, no matter the heat that bore down on her frame she only stopped shortly after each completed task, making sure not to become dehydrated in this weather as she moved onto the next without question.

By the time the human had prepared lunch she was already exhausted, so much done yet so much more to go, but she wouldn't flounder in her endeavors, only wanting to stop to recharge her metaphorical batteries before she began working on the next assignment.

Todd the now momentarily retired farmer kept to his word, for his part. Not budging an inch to help with any work of hers at all, even as she struggled with certain tasks, she pushed herself to do them, so long as it she didn't force herself to hard, not that she wouldn't want Todd's help, more so she didn't like to make him worry, while also showing him how useful she was.

Though he did promise to relax himself, this didn't stop him doing so in the kitchen, sitting down on his favorite chair and watching her by the front door. Not that he believed she would fail miserable and he'll act as some gallant knight in shining armor coming down to sweep her off her tired feet, just that he was curious to see how well she'd do, tackling the jobs all by herself, and he was glad to say he wasn't surprised, deep down believing she'd be able to tackle the tasks without any problems.

Without having to get up or help, he instead spent his hours watching her go, moving about in the garden, it was refreshing to see someone else do it for a change, especially from Lopunny, as he admired her form as she went to work. The bubbly Pokemon almost danced around as she went from position to position, hopping from one place to another, he couldn't help but notice how her thighs and rear jiggle a bit when she jumped, and how firm and strong her legs were, no doubt a single kick from her would send a man flying into next week.

Todd was a man that admired a handy woman, a female perfectly able to be independent and care for herself. To him, what sounded more pleasing for a partner than one that didn't need to rely on others but instead always know what to do in any situation, not that they disliked wanting help, but could be seen as a pillar of strength to be adored by friends and family. A brave, strong woman that someone like him that could always enjoy being alongside, both while working and while relaxing...Honestly, to him that sounded perfectly like Lopunny…

He blinked his eyes wide when he thought that, looking around himself to make sure none had heard his thoughts. That was...certainly a bizarre turn of events, and looking out to make sure Lopunny heard none of that he saw the female in question bent over his way, inspecting the vegetation while also inadvertently giving him a full view of her bare behind.

Well...his cheeks flushing assured him he learned something knew about his natural affection that he had never realized he had before until now.

* * *

The squawks of Murkrow littered the air waves as a small flock of the Darkness Pokemon flew high above the land, encircling around the large, flushed garden of exotic goodies ripe for the taking, minutes were spent purely scouting the area, looking down from far enough away to spot that pesky Buneary that to guard the garden, or worse, that human wizard that could send fireballs towards them.

But to their own pleasure, neither could be spotted out and about, either cooped in their home or simply not nearby, either option meant that could enjoy their meals in peace; so with the knowledge there was nothing standing in their way they began to descend, swooping down as each individual Pokemon sought a target for them to fill their pie-holes with. One such Murkrow slowly flapped its wings as it gradually lowered onto its own intended target; a ripe looking Broccoli that was begging for the Murkrow to shove its jaw down upon and scoff it down its neck. To peck apart and be destroyed by the hungry, hungry flying Pokemon, to become sustenance so it can scavenge once again, and drawing closer, the cabbage almost within clawing distance of the creature as it was just about to sink it's talons upon and enjoy its feast-

Then a wooden plank sprang right the Punny out of nowhere and smacked the Murkrow right in the face, sending him flying back into the sky as any other Murkrow that was in its chucked arc had to dodge swiftly or be sent flying along with it. All the Pokemon immediately stopped their assault on the garden as they hovered in place, both shocked and confused on what just happened. Yet with their attention now alarmed from such a sudden scene none noticed a small string silently being pulled underneath the foliage, sliding across the dirt stealthy as an unknown mechanism became triggered.

Hovering dangerously above a squash another Murkrow fell prey to something new smacking into its body, this time a gigantic flyswatter came suddenly out of the ground and slapped the Pokemon away from the vegetables and into the small forest of trees, unable to stop itself being sent away as it's only halt from the chuck came after hitting a Spinarak's web, landing safely, albeit dazed, on the net as the owner of said web became miffed at seeing the unwanted guest on his trap.

The flock of Pokemon began to scream out their own names out of fear and turmoil, some tackling to flying anyway and everywhere so as not to end up with the fate of the two unlucky ones before it. Yet even this didn't seem to help with another unfortunate Murkrow that was flapping about over the patches of produce, as just passing by a pumpkin came it's demise as a random boot-on-a-stick sprung forth from the underbrush and stomped uphard on that particular Pokemon, not only sending it flying away like the others but due to a different Murkrow not paying attention to the surroundings of others it too was caught in the momentum of the first and was flung away with the first one, both Murkrows being launched over the top of the wall and landing somewhere in the foliage of the trees.

Out of the sight of the large patches did a figure sit herself in a hole, ducking down and peering out from under an old army helmet as she watched the show unfold before her, under her nose did a grin slowly spread across her face, almost chuckling evilly at seeing the Murkrow get their just desserts.

But she wasn't done just yet, oh no, this female was not letting them go off the hook with just a few of them taken down. As inside the hole did the figure slowly raise something new out of the dug in section, pulling herself out of as a Lopunny marched forward with her machine held in her arms like a dangerous weapon, switching it on as the sound of the rumbling engine echoed to the scared Murkrow,and when they looked out to the source of the sound; they were met with a flying baseball being pitched their way.

"WAAAHHHH!" Lopunny yelled a war cry as she began her advance on the flying-types, aiming her machine right to the group of them as her machine began to shoot out a ball every second, each shot being sent as an attempt to strike itself right into the face of every Murkrow in sight, adding onto the mix of confusion and terror as they tried to dodge and evade the spitting balls of doom, so muddled they were they began to even crash into one another, creating a cloud of feathers in the air that slowly descended down, each one almost like a smaller bite of a larger trophy being awarded to the Lopunny for her frivolous assault on those nasty, naught Pokemon.

They finally scattered, all the Murkrow took flight to the skies as the whole group, dazed, scared, and most undoubtedly in pain for many of them, became to scurry away in the air, flying away, and in Lopunny's thoughts, never to return.

The squawks of "Murkrow" began to die down as they scampered off, and the adrenaline fueled Lopunny slowly relaxed herself, turning the machine off and putting it down on the grass as she admired her handiwork: The sight of all the feathers scattered all over the ground was cathartic to her, it not just giving her a feeling of well done but also a sweet slice of that pie known of revenge. She didn't bother looking up at the sky anymore, nah, the pride she was feeling was satisfying enough for her, as she turned away with her eyes closed, trotting away without a care in the world now, as in her mind she had the feeling that was the last time she'd ever see a Murkrow in Todd's garden now-

A sudden resounded from atop her head, Lopunny's pride stride stopped mid hop as she felt a warm liquid slowly dribble down her head. With a finger she picked at the stuff on her head, looking at the substance as it ran down her digits. It was all gooey and white, as she she sniffed it with her nose, the smell reminded her exactly of-

"You bunch of ragged-rear Lops!" She screamed bloody murder up at a few Murkrow that dared to hover over her, one in particular was shaking it's behind as they flew above her head, mocking the Rabbit Pokemon with absolute disregard of just disgusting an act the flying type had committed. Lopunny's face blew up in a deep red as she her tench clenched in preparation for what she was about to speak.

"You Punny Lops! When catch you I'm gonna shove fist so far up your Lopunny your eggs will come out misshapen! I'll put all of you in a line and shove your beaks into each others Lopuns! You hear me, you milk sucking miscreants!" She roared, the Murkrow barely seemed to care for her stated intention as the continued to mock her. Seeing as they didn't care for her onslaught of words, her threats didn't gave rise to any reaction, she tried a very different approach; grabbing the rocks on the ground and shooting them right into the Murkrow, using her ears to discharge the stones like a shotgun shell as they Mukrow began to scatter one again!

But Lopunny was not content with just letting them flee, oh no, not at all, as the Rabbit Pokemon didn't just fire from her position but actually began to give chase, kicking gravel up at them with a war cry of "Eat Granite" as she was hot on their heels, shooting up at the Murkrow with almost killing intent, even jumping out the garden to make them scatter, running down the road after them as she never stopped her sprint nor her blitz until they were nothing but a glint in the open skies.

* * *

Remember that unknown feeling Lopunny had whenever she was doing anything alongside with Todd, that particular one that made her happy when he was just simply nearby, the one that also made her feel depressed at seeing him suffer even the slightest discomfort? Well today she learned it was responsible for making her feel something new; hating other females that felt like getting too close to this one farmer.

It was a market day like any other, people came and went, buying what they wanted, talking to the farmer like friends do, and of course when that baby girl returned on this lovely day she squealed so sharply it made the farmer duck right into his selection of produce, pulling himself up from the stall with two carrots now pointing out from his eye sockets.

She didn't mind those customers, but there was some others made her brow rise. Adult females to be exact, ones around Todd's age that came and began to not just talk to the farmer, but almost seem to _lean_ into him. They talked slowly, almost slurring their words on purpose as if to catch his attention.

Who were these women? Who gives them the right to act so buddy-buddy with Todd? Even what they said sounded weird too, using colloquialisms and fancy phrases. They looked to be getting something out of Todd, and not just greens for their plates.

"Well I see you have such a nice range of cucumbers on selection. Quite nice...quite nice." One peculiar human woman draped herself over his way, leaning across the counter as the big smile she adorned on her face like jewelry did not put the Pokemon at ease. "Though, I'm rather more interested in knowing how big _your_ cucumber is." That sentence. That sentence made Lopunny's blood boil. Even when she didn't know why it still made her mad, the way she made googly-eyes to her friend, even completely ignoring her as if she didn't even exist.

She didn't care that she was being ignored. That did not upset her, but what did was seeing just how casually this female was treating her man. This man, she meant, obviously, not hers, she doesn't own this man...if she did though...she'd at least be able to take him away from humans such as these. No no no, they're equals, none have reign over the other.

"I can assure you madam, all my cucumbers are made to be as big and fresh as possible. I don't believe in setting the largest ones aside for higher paying customers." He tried to cool down the situation with this advantageous woman, despite saying so calmly, Lopunny could see how uncomfortable her-_this_ human was feeling. The single sweat drop falling down his brow, his open mouth that quivered slightly, the small half-hearted laughs that felt awkward even for her.

And all of it has been committed because of that woman. That flickering-eyes making, barely dressed, soft-speaking little piece of work!

She wanted to punch her. She really did. Put her fist to her face with enough force to blow her into next Sunday. But alas, she couldn't, Pokemon shouldn't hurt humans, even as her knuckles went white with fury she would not allow herself to attack that human. Never seek that low. All she could do was instead ignore those drooled out words as best she could and focus on something else, the produce even, with his brought selection of carrots, tomatoes, cabbage…all stuff she's seen many times before, and looking at them only made her want to do something else, even the juice box she was mindly drinking out of seemed unable to cure her of her frustration.

Her juice? A metaphorical light bulb appeared over the Lopunny's head as the obvious analogy of an idea came to her mind. A sly grin that went ignored by the two other humans grew on the Pokemon's face as she made sure to silently slither away, out of sight, as she silkily stepped around to the other side, peering out by the customers side, thankful, to some polarizing extent, that she was completely being ignored, neither noticing her as she quietly pulled at her juice box and aimed the straw out facing the woman, not unlike how one would hold a rifle up to it's target and locked the prey within her sights, the world around her didn't seem to exist as all that did was this stall, and her enemy...and **FIRE**!

A few squeezes of the juice box later and the next thing this woman knew was her pants had suddenly gotten damp, her once clean lower garments were now wet over the crotch area, and a few seconds later this woman cried out in shock to the realization she was strangely wet down there, her outcry so loud she began to make a scene, with Lopunny making sure to disappear back begin the curtains of the stall before anyone could spot her, out of sight once again as she snickered to herself, keeping her chuckling in check as her large ears could pick up everything that was happening from behind the drapery, the woman squealing in both embarrassment and fear, Todd trying her hardest to calm her down and not pay attention to the obvious stain, and even the small muttering of passer-by's that stopped and paid focus to the little freakout.

And it all came to a climax when one little boy spoke without even the slightest hint of modesty: "Mommy look, that lady wee'd herself."

That 'lady' certainly scampered off in a huff, making sure to disappear from the sight as Lopunny made sure to reappear right back by Todd's side as if nothing happened, wearing a smug smile on her face as she nicely waved her off, leaving Todd completely muddled by the whole situation. That is, if you don't include him seeing out the corner of his eye a certain Pokemon do something rather naughty, a Pokemon unaware she was being seen out the whole ordeal.

The rest of the farming day went by without a hitch, no more nasty human females came by and pestered the male with unwarranted flirting. She was sure, at least, as each time she saw a woman that came by here alone she made she to make her presence known, literally standing so far by his side she was almost pushing him away, squishing her body against his, the ideas of personal space accidentally neglected to be taught by the human it seemed.

And as the working day came to an end the two packed up their things and left, the swift coming to a close as they came back home to a silent house, though, not to be outdone by the silent human, who kept his words brief and small for the last few hours when talking to the Lopunny. She never noticed how quiet and placid he had become, not visibly upset, more lacking enthusiasm towards her, but she at no point knew what he was thinking when the two made it back inside, starting as soon as Todd closed the door behind him with the Lopunny already in the room:

"What was up with that today, Lopunny?" His tone held none of his trademark warmth or energy, something she quickly picked up on as his stoic expression unnerved her a little, his gaze almost piercing the Rabbit Pokemon as she had to look away from his eyes.

"I..I'm not sure what you mean." An inkling of lies there, even though she was sure he wasn't talking about what he was referring to, a glint of guilt was still present.

"About what you did to that woman." She flinched as though she had been punched, even though no true physical force had been taken upon, a semblance of pain was there. "I saw you do it, to that lady. Why did you do it, Lopunny?"

"I...I did it because she needed to leave." She stubbornly replied, folding her arms and pointing her head up and away from him, almost a 'harrumph' as a reply. Despite his gaze, Lopunny felt all the senses of guilt upon washed over by complete annoyance. "Rude woman deserve to go."

"That's not up to you to decide." Todd's voice spoke a little louder than now, his brow even began to furrow as he stared to her. "And more importantly, because of you that poor woman was humiliated by the crowd. Have you no sense of dignity? Don't you feel bad for what he had to suffer through?"

"_Poor_ woman! You serious about that? And for your information, no I do not feel bad for her." She slammed her hands on the wooden table as she was almost shocked by hearing him take that females side. "That was not a nice woman at all. I'm actually surprised to hear you take _her _side. What? My side not exist here at all?"

"It doesn't matter what side I'm on!" He slammed his own hands on the table, the slam resounding across the almost silent kitchen as the two stared with intensity at each other, neither giving an inch to budge. "What matters is that you were in the wrong and should have apologized for what you had done. I have half a mind to force you back to find that woman and make you apologies for what you've done."

Warm tears started to drip down Lopunny's cheek as her hands began to vibrate with her own unbridled emotion. Fueled by feelings of betrayal and anguish, she screamed straight into Todd's face with a resounding "WHAT SHOULD I! I JUST WANTED TO PROTECT YOU, IS THAT SO WRONG?"

"I don't need protecting, Lopunny, I am perfectly capable of handling things! I don't need you to do that for me, I can take care of everything myself!"

**"THEN WHY THE HELL AM I EVEN HERE THEN?!"** Her words were shot out like a cannon, screamed as loud as the emotional Pokemon could make, her cheeks flushed red with anger, but before Todd could even get a word in, Lopunny…began to cry. The tense air of animosity dissipated immediately as the human watched her shake in place, sniffling through her nose while the dripping tears stained the fleeces on her sleeves as Lopunny made an attempt to wipe away the liquid flowing down her face. Even the argumentative person across her hastily lessened his own thoughts of disappointment towards her as he saw her breaking down into a nervous wreck.

"I...I just want..." Before she could finish her quiet stuttering, before Todd could get a chance to console her she turned and ran away, Todd watching her go, frozen in place as he was too unsure what to make of it all, as all he could do was watch her sprint up the stairs, seconds later a slam was heard from what he assumed was her own room. And just like that, the whole world fell into complete silence, a vacuum of emptiness unable to be filled.

The few hours after were not...pleasant, to the human. Though he stood outside Lopunny's room, for a while, even having to sit down opposite her door, he couldn't bring himself to knock or call her, as the sounds of what sounded like her crying into her pillow kept his guilt in check, any chance to speak words of regret or any desire to reconcile were shut down before they could even begin. Instead he had to force himself to move, leaving her be in the hope she would want to speak to him again.

It didn't feel good to eat alone after all this time being spent with another across the table. Even when the two barely spoke when chowing down their food there was an unspoken pleasant aura shared in the old house, what was once a common occurrence less than a month ago now felt empty, like the added part removed stopped the whole place feeling full. She she never came down for dinner, even when he set a place for her she didn't come join him.

She brought the food up to her, softly stating "A plate is by the door if you want your tea." Before he returned into the living room. The sounds of the Television did not alleviate the quiet, the longing to have someone nearby, sitting beside him or even on his lap, forgoing the thoughts of what personal space was in favor of being right by his side.

The depression he felt could not be lifted by even by his monetary work in the garden, his lifework could not balance his dejection as it seemed almost...boring to him now. All he could think of when working was memories of working with his rabbity partner, when she was small, laughing with her when she tried her hardest to pull up the weeds, to sharing a break when she was tall enough to clink there bottled waters together in satisfaction.

He had to stop, his body too tired to work anymore as no matter what he tried his mind meandered towards thoughts and memories of his feminine companion, and all of them reminded him of the spat the two had shared. He honestly didn't care who was right and wrong anymore, he just wanted to have his companion by his side again.

Night came, and as he expected but hoped not to happen, Lopunny never came out of her room, the space behind her closed door remained silent with exception being the shuffling of her bed giving some relief that she was still awake, and alive, in their. For a more elated note, the plate he had left for her had noticeable chunks taken out of the meal, if only half eaten, so he persuaded himself to believe she wasn't trying to starve herself even inadvertently. Perhaps morning would coax her into coming out and talking to him, after all, the last thing he wanted to do was force her into anything, especially when she was as emotional as last time she saw him.

"Goodnight...Lopunny." He wished her the best as he made his slump to his own room, now that the home of theirs was ready for him to slumber, the last thing he had to do was pass by her room as he made his way to his own sleeping room. Even night was lively with the Lopunny, as the usually bouncy Pokemon seemed to hate going to sleep, at least when alone, so it wasn't odd for her to make a small fuss, trying to entice the human into doing something else besides go to bed, perhaps watch Television until late, or go and do gardening...in the dark. She never had her way through, as he stood firm and explained early to bed meant early to rise, and a good night's sleep was beneficial for her in maintaining a tireless day of work, that is, if she wanted to always keep up with him. Now it seemed dry without any of that. Boring, even.

The last lights were off, and Todd finally tucked himself into bed, taking one long look at his closed door before pulling the covers over him and resting his wistful head on the pillow, closing his eyes and hoping for a better tomorrow. Mind you, sleep didn't come as quickly as usual for him, despite his own heavy state, the equally heavy weighing on his heart caused him to be rather insomnious on his own bed.

Though he wouldn't stay awake throughout the whole night if he was allowed to be by his lonesome, sleep can't be held back forever, but noisy creak of his only door caught the lethargic man's sleepy attention as he looked through the darkened room to see a figure slowly appear from outside his bedroom, his eyes had already adjusted to total darkness, so it wasn't hard to tell it was his Pokemon friend that wordlessly stood in the hallway, with clutched in her arms was her pillow, the soft object held aloft like she was hugging it.

He didn't exactly know whether or not she could see him as well as he could see her, but she at least seemed to notice him shuffling about on his bed as she whispered out a tiny call for him with a small "Todd...I...?"

"Close the do behind you as you come in, Lopunny." He could only speculate, but he was sure her face lit up in the dark, her rose-coloured iris glowed for just a fraction of a second before she hurriedly stepped inside, shutting the door behind her quickly as Todd leaned on the bed, clicking on the lamp by her bed as the warm glow shone over his friend. Now getting a better view of her form in the light, he wasn't surprised, though he hoped he would be, at seeing how red her eyes looked, her stature seemed ragged and her fur seemed rough, no guess to how sorrowful she had been over the few short hours she kept herself cooped up in there.

Her physical state matched her mental one, as the usually bouncy Lopunny kept a distance between herself and him, despite being allowed in, she was almost afraid to come near him.

He patted the side of his bed as a rejoinder to this, non-verbally letting her know she could come to him. She did, but she seemed to deny herself from looking at him, disallowing her eyes to feel worthy of staring at his presence and instead she sat her rear down on the edge, facing away as she rested her chin on her pillow.

"You came here to talk to me, didn't you Lopunny?" He guessed on the nose, making sure not to say anything that would set her off, hating to make her feel hurt anymore. He knew to let her take the lead, she came to him, and whatever she wanted to say he would let it come without obstruction.

"I wanted to say..." Her voice muffled lightly by the pillow over her mouth. "I am sorry, Todd. I shouldn't have...screamed, at you. Yelled at you...You were right. It was wrong for I to..do that to that woman. I just..." A reassuring hand was placed on her shoulder as for the first time tonight she locked eyes with the human, the glow offered a nice view of him as he sat up, him actually wanting to get close after all of that soothed her cracked mind. "Cannot explain what came over me to do such a thing, I...I don't know Todd. What should I say?"

The human listened to it all and thought over her little question a little. Only a little, though, as always knew what a person should say when they need to get something off their chest: "Just say what you feel. You can tell me anything, I won't get angry, I promise. Say what you need to say." Her eyes drifted away for just a second before she nodded calmly, believing his words to hold true as she turned and faced him.

"I did not like that woman, not because she was rude and annoying, but I did not like how she was looking at you, how she was talking to you. Made me feel...wrong, that she wasn't allowed to treat you that way. She was too close, too near you. It brought upon me an emotion I've never felt before, I still don't understand even now. Is it a bad one?"

"Depends." Todd stated as he tapped his chin in thought. "Do you see it as a bad one?"

"Mostly...no. Usually what I am feeling is happiness not anger. It's feels strange and new but not, awful or unwanted. I always want it more, because it's...bubbly. It makes me feel bubbly, fluttery, lively. I'm not even sure what I mean by that, but I do know it makes me feel good."

"You said mostly, so when does it stop feeling good?"

"Whenever you're hurt. In pain, tired, uncomfortable, if you're not happy, then I stop being happy as well. If I ever see you feeling down, I immediately want to come over and make you smile, cause your smile makes me smile."

To him, it sounded strangely like she had some telepathic emotional connection with him, as if his emotions were shared with hers. Of course, that sounded implausible, especially with her not even being a psychic type, so had to only presume it was sounding like closeness, like a strong bond between two people, though not necessarily just that.

"Then what brought this feeling to occur, when did it start?"

"All because of you Todd." He blinked at that, Lopunny expression remained still as some gears started to spin in his head. "I started after I became a Lopunny, like it was an emotion I was only meant to feel when I became an adult. But it only comes about with you, not with other humans, just you gives me this feeling."

"So it's...there because of me?"

"Yes. It appears whenever I'm alongside you, but it doesn't just disappear when you leave, it makes me feel down. Being away from you these past few hours; what hurt the most isn't just being away from you, but the truth I cannot see you. When I shouted at you, instantly after realized what I have said hurt you. I...hurt you. I can't forgive myself for saying that to you."

"But I can. _And_ I do forgive you, Honey Bunny, and you should to. I'm not upset anymore, I can now see why you did such a thing, even when it was wrong. I understand what you're going through, and I can understand what you are feeling: because I think I feel that same way as well."

"You do?" She cocked her head to the left in wonder, as for some reason hearing him say that left her both pleased and...disheartened, the two opposite emotions fought against each other for supremacy, neither coming out on top as she was left waiting for something that would tip the balance.

"Yes." She didn't notice how slow his words came out as. "I know exactly what this feeling is. When that one single person is happy, you are happy. When that person is down, you are down. Seeing them in pain, knowing they feel anguish is heartbreaking, and all you want to do is comfort them, take away their misery and replace it purely by good thoughts. Yet also one that comes with a hint of selfishness deep inside, drives you to hate when others get close, when they leave for too long and you almost want to demand they come back."

She nodded in agreement, all he spoke of was true, perfectly so, even, strangely, too close for him to simply guess surely. They way he spoke sounded of experience, not learnt just be hearing it happen alone.

"I know that feeling well, Lopunny because I feel them too...for you." Her breathing suddenly hitched in her throat as her eyes blinked wide, the truth Todd was admitting too made her heartbeat increase, her cheeks flushed with warmth as these emotions she felt began to develop strongly now, innately.

And as Todd's hand slowly drifted off Lopunny's shoulder her own soft appendage wandered over to grab it before it escapes, keeping their hands held together as Todd's intertwined his fingers over hers. Silence reigned for just a moment, a deathly silence cut short by perhaps the almost inaudible buzzing of the old lamp that shone light on both their bodies. While it lasted only a short while, this sensation of holding hands with felt so...right. Normal. Like they belong. Like they were meant to stay together ...forever.

"Love." The word as a whisper as she finally realized the undeniable certainty of the fact now. The old word, one she hadn't heard for a good time, the emotion of caring and togetherness. Love comes in different fashions, of different reasons and for different purposes. And while Lopunny may seem lacking in the knowledge of many aspects of the world, natural or artificial, even she understood what love is. Not just the love of friends and family, but the love...of something deeper, shared between two others.

"Lopunny...loves...Todd." The sentence rolled off her tongue, each word became its own self-asking sentence as the understanding of the whole conversation they were having finally sunk in. The simple three-word sentence confirmed and made clear everything to do with how she felt, her joy, her jealousy, her pain, all where because of this simple four-letter word known as love. A word that not just her she feels alone for.

"And Todd...loves...Lopunny." A point to him, then a point to her, as the human in question nodded to her with a soft smile, trying his hardest not to blurt out anything as he instead allowed her to come to the undeniable conclusion on her own. Her finger was still in a point as it was focused on the Lopunny, the sharp end of her digit stayed looking at the Pokemon in question. "Todd loves Lopunny...and Lopunny loves Todd." The finger slowly melted away to blend in with the rest of her hand, as the human just waited for her to finally come to terms with her new found understanding.

"I LOVE TODD!" Even the females' hand that encircled the human had to be let go as he was suddenly met with the force of a 36Kg Pokemon glomping him, forcing him onto his back as the Pokemon hugged and cuddled _her_ human fiercely nuzzling him with her own cheek as she cried out words of joy, repeating that three-word sentence over and over again as struggled to get a word, mind him, not that he was hating this loving affection he was receiving, quite the opposite as realized since there was no way to stop her from ferociously snuggling him his best course of action was simply too hug her back. Be damned to anyone that says she isn't human, she is a woman in his eyes, a damn fine woman that he has not felt this kind of love and affection for anyone else before, be they human or Pokemon.

Wrapping his beefy arms around her form as Lopunny continued to nuzzle all over his face Todd couldn't help but look over her beautiful form, the light of the lamp cast a dark shadow off of her but somehow didn't seem to deny him a look of all her most alluring parts. Whether it be her soft fleece, the touch even over his clothes were like the softest blanket, her thick thighs, muscular and smooth, with child-bearing hips and her dainty legs for that could go on for days, or her most prettiest of face, with her cute lips that spoke out words like an angel.

His lust took over in parts, not enough to fully take him over, but enough for him to reach around and grasp the back of Lopunny's head, pulling her in and enclosing his mouth over hers, taken both Lopunny's first kiss, but his as well as the surprised female melted into this sensation, he let go seconds after and letting her take a breathe the moment he realized what he had forced her into.

However, before the human could speak words of apology, believing her first kiss was meant to be taken sacredly not liberally, the Lopunny sprung back and took her lips to his, holding them so tightly the moment they parted a satisfying **smack** echoed around the room. And again, before Todd could get a line in she did it again, pursed her lips and claimed his for just a second before parting them, leaving the human flabbergasted at what she did.

"A kiss...yes?" As it seemed, Todd had genuinely forgotten Lopunny was born in the wild, and as such may not have known what a kiss was. Most likely, she had come to understand what a kiss was from watching the TV. "That was indeed a kiss, Lopunny. A very nice one at that." He said as he laid helpless on the bed under Lopunny's strength and desire, a craving so strong she couldn't resist doing it again, crashing her lips on his as he gladly took her unintentional initiative with gusto, holding her body close with his own as the two hugged each other, letting themselves go with instinct and yearning guiding them, as Lopunny continued her kisses, shoving her lips over his and pulling back just to do it again, letting her senses dull to the truly marvelous sensation, as nothing before had made her feel this way, this...primal urge that kept her going, no matter how tired she was, her body moved on it's own not just her single second-lasting kisses but the rest of her body, namely her hips...

So focused on her kissing Lopunny failed to realize what else her body was doing, not just her arms, that held the males body like an Arbok, of her breathing, deep shallow pants that longed with strong bouts of air but clouded out by her instincts simply ignoring them, but down below her body there was a fire lit between her legs, an ache, a burning heat that she could not be quenched with water of ice. Instead, this flame craved neither heat nor fuel but something physical to be buried inside her. Without realizing, Lopunny's pelvis took on a life of its own and was desperately rubbing itself over the male's own crotch, the simple act drove her wild as she couldn't fathom what was going on but instead opted to only let it happen, furiously stroking her sex organ over Todd's. The pent up lust began to override Lopunny's senses as they rubbed hard on each other, as if the spaces between both their legs longed for each other, the lust driving made her kisses sloppy, her tongue even rolling out and left to be limp as she started to practically slobber Todd's mouth and cheeks, she not cared where her mouth hit his, and neither did her, both lost in their own desires so hard she never felt a wetness in between her thighs, down below her fur was getting damp, dripping over Todd's equally enticed lower organ as the fire continued to burn, continuing to mold and in not too long, the heat became so hot she could not ignore it any longer.

So with a high-pitched squeal the female let out a longing moan that separated their quick-firing pecks for just long enough for them to recover from the sexual miasma. Lopunny's whole body quivered, her mind mixed with both lust and fear over this foriegn feeling as Todd lulled mind came back into normalcy. Within just a moment both stopped still, neither able to comprehend what just happened as the room was filled but nothing but loud pants from the only two occupants.

"I feel weird, Todd..." Lopunny let out between her breathes. "A feel hot in someplace, burning, wet...I can't control it. Down below." She quickly looked down her body, noticing that indeed her lower region was dripping with something, not pee, but almost like saliva, the liquid dribbled down her thigh drops of it splashed down onto Todd's lower garments, soaking them as she noticed something bulging out his nightwear.

Todd completely understood the whole situation now, not just how but why, as there steamy make-out session awoke something out of them, not just his own latent desire that had gone unfilled by his lack of connection to the opposite sex but also Lopunny's natural heat, guessing that never before the adult Pokemon had experienced the demand of sexual intercourse. Both looked down between the space that separated them, the short distance of Lopunny's sex, her organ rather noticeable now, as he felt his own erection springing out, the elastic of his garments being strained as his member demanded to be set free from their cotton prison.

"Um...Lopunny I-" The males sentence was cut off as a sharp intake of air followed right after, swallowing through his teeth the moment the curious female on top of her slowly rubbed her damp crotch over his own , the slit of her organ lightly sandwiching the tip of the shaft trying to poke out. Both could feel it, their bodies want for one another, and though Todd knew exactly why, the less wise Pokemon was almost mesmerized by the unknown latent desire as she slowly massaged her lower opening over his clothed body, to her instinctual mind, this feeling felt right, like it belonged, two halves wanting to become whole.

She jumped off of him, landing right in front of his lower half and before Todd could even get a say in the female curtly followed forward by pulling the garments of his shorts quickly down, freeing his member from it's cage as his sexual organ strike out in upward, like a mighty sword held aloft his cock shone in the air, ready and waiting to do battle with any advisories.

And what a shine it has, as Lopunny stared at it with frozen breathe, looking up and down the large (technically average sized) shaft that was almost begging to be polished, fine steel needed a fine polish to let it shine like the heavens, and the Pokemon felt engrossed by its presence, almost wanting to shove her arm right up and volunteer to be the one to hold this blade a-

"Lopunny...hey!" A quick tap on her forehead brought her out of her daydream as she small poke forced her eyes to stop looking enticed by his natural body part and instead to the human now sat up, eyeing her with neither shock nor horror on his face but more a blatant inexpressive stare. "As much as it sounds delightful to have a female take wonder on my own knob, I have to say it's not that much fun just sitting around doing nothing."

_Doing nothing._ That's not what she wants to do, is it. She didn't come all the way up here to do nothing, she came to apologize to the human. And though she has, as of right now she wanted something more, that instinctual drive drove her crazy, her lower half burning with passion as he mind knew what her body wanted...to mate. To mate with her human.

The dormant feeling could not be ignored anymore, for how long this innate yearning went unfounded she couldn't tell, but looking at him now, this handsome rugged human she trusted dearly over each single day she was with him, and looking at his penis, her body thirsting for it to claim him, she could see it wasn't merely her heat driving her towards him, if that was even there in the first place, but because she wanted him simply on the account of he was him. She came into his life and he accepted it without little fear for any repercussions, he taught her, protected her and most importantly became her friend, something gladly wanted to return all back. She didn't want to do _nothing_...she wanted to do…

She wanted to be his. His equal, his partner in ways other than simply working his field. And as if the bright lights and temperamental music that once just mere minutes ago filled the air, that shone and played parallel their passions were now simply gone, replaced with nothing but the honest real life. Leaving nothing but just her and him in this room, lit only by the bedside lamp on this cool summer night. She almost chuckled, fully realizing just how into the situation she had gotten; her reality swapped for her mind visualizing something more enticing. But that wasn't real life, nor was it Todd, and she didn't want some fake human, she wanted only him.

She slowly leaned away, closing her eyes while she inhaled, not caring for the stench of sweat or musk that lingered from the human so close, but only for the natural oxygen in the air, pure air too clear her mind and remind her what she was doing. Not what she came for, but what she wants, not needed, not lusting for...she just wanted him to claim him as hers, as lovers.

Todd watched the now silent and calm Lopunny slide off the bed, leisurely looking away without a word as she bent down by the side of her bed, on all fours, then purposefully lifting up her rear to show off her wet feminine region to him, pointing it his way as the female it belonged to made now shame in making sure her tail was out of the way before she spoke, curtly and flatly.

"Todd, I love you. You love me. I love you in ways no other else ever makes me feel. I want to be yours, you want to be mine. Please: take me as your mate, claim me so no one else could take either of us away from the life we share together. Become my mate."

The idea was anything but disgusting to the human, even if she was a Lopunny, she was undeniably the most gorgeous and graceful woman he knew. But what held him back from pouncing on her and giving in to his desires like a wild thing was not her body or her personality, but her own desires, as both a female and Pokemon.

"Are you sure?" Even if he could see her face and all he had to see was her dripping crotch, he remained steadfast and calm when speaking. "Are you really sure you want me? Don't you think you'd want another Lopunny as you mate? Do you think you'd see yourself having a better life with a Pokemon as you mate, and not a human?"

"Impossible." Her reply came so fast it almost sounded to barge into his own. "Todd is not a Lopunny, or any Pokemon, Todd is a human. I don't care either way what Todd is, Todd is Todd, therefore being with a human is just fine. I don't love other Pokemon like Todd, I only fell in love with Todd. I don't want to be with anyone else other than you."

That made him smile internally, not wanting to let his emotions rule over logic before he was sure Lopunny made sure her decision was fleshed out. He continued to his next question:

"If we do decide to take this step, go through with it, our relationship will be forever changed, and can't be undone. What we have will be permanent, and anything that can damage what we have could be detrimental to what we both have created over our time together. Taking the next leap into a relationship of something deeper, physical and romantic, does not come without its own list of possible problems."

"...I know." She breathed out. "I know what we have can change, but...change can be good. I'm not afraid of what happens next, because I know we aren't bad. Bad can ruin things, good can only make them better. I believe we won't be driven away from another in time because we don't have hostility to another. We don't want to have malice in our lives, because we're happy just being with each other.

Besides, our relationship has already been changed now. We've done too much to stop now, as neither of us can feign ignorance of our love. We both want this, and both know we want this, is not almost the same as doing it altogether?"

Well darn, the female Pokemon still presenting herself to the male was spot on. Todd couldn't find fault in her logic, at least one that made sense as of now, and her words held wise truth. How _could _they simply stop what there were doing and leave it there? Their new found relationship upgrade supported the ideal that there couldn't be any turning back now.

Ah, who cares anymore, they both wanted it, and know the risks and be damned anything else that would try to interfere with what they want. Todd was fully on board with this.

"Very well, Lopunny. I do accept you as my mate."

Well..._almost_ fully. The virgin side of him, that one that had yet to be taken until now, was rather nervous of going through all of this, even as an adult there was still the sentiment he had never got anything close to this far with another female, and now that she was here like this…

Even as he moved by the side, sliding himself over with his bare feet on the floor, his erection still up, albeit more flaccid after their protracted discussion, as it was not pointed right onto Lopunny's sex, the female in question waiting with the patience of a Legendary as her cunt begged for him to claim her roughly, and he was left with no barriers to hold him back.

Though she waited, she let her head lean to the side and an eye watch over him to make sure he was doing fine on his end. And despite her inexperience, she knew him well enough by now to see he was still nervous about the whole thing, even too nervous to touch her as his trembling hand hovered right over her luscious cheek afraid to make a mistake and ruin the whole situation.

"Touch me, Todd." She spoke loudly, yet in a soft, alluring tone. "Do not fear to ever touch me, I want you, I want you to touch me as much as possible. " A shaky hand finally grasped her touche, coming down with enough force to have an audible slap as the still nervous human held her butt in his hand, then two, both his hands now firmly placed on her cheeks. Even as they laid still, unmoving as the human felt only the soft fur on her behind, Lopunny felt that rush of pleasure begging her to demand more, screaming at her to command him to not just grab but squeeze her booty, make her feel that adrenaline of lust.

But no, she said nothing for she had to restrain herself, for his sake, she believed, as she let him feel her up. Let him have control, she thought best, he was the male here, he was the one to dominate her and stake claim her as his own, her natural instinctual side persuaded her.

The male that was meant to dominate her was currently in a mixed state of arousal and nervousness, not exactly in a mind to dominate anything as he stared with intrigue and desire at the female's awaiting sex, it dripping with impatience as he tingling fingers made sure to hold onto her butt as tightly as they could. As his erection was now dangerously facing her wet cunny all he could hear was his beating heartbeat, beating many times a second as the truth of the matter was clear to him, and he shouldn't waste anymore time with unnecessary breaks.

"I'm going to start now, are you ready, Lopunny?" She nodded her head vigorously in reply as she tensed and prepared her body, closing her eyes and feeling the human slowly pull her rear back with him, her genitalia soaking with anticipation as she focused purely on how she was going to feel, how her body will react with his as he peeled her body away from the floor and to his blood-filled organ as he she made sure to enjoy the way her body-

Immediately was pulled backwards for her body was flung off the floor and to the human. As in the human's own nervous focus on making sure all went well, he never paid any attention to his balance as with just a small slip of his heel on the wood floor he was knocked back, yet his tight grip on her behind made sure she fell with him, both were tripped as they let out cries of equal shock, stopping once they hit an obstruction. In the humans case, it was his back hitting the bed, but in the Lopunny's case…

"Lopunny, are you alright?" He questioned quickly as the natural worries called not make sure she wasn't hurt. But to his thankfulness, and also to his innate desires not only was Lopunny perfectly fine, albeit a little stirred by the sudden jolt, but she was now sitting quite nicely on his lap, her thighs placed quite nicely on his legs, but looking behind her the Pokemon noticed just where her bottom had landed, and better yet, just where his manhood was now quite nicely placed: right between her buttocks.

She shifted her rear muscles, her cheeks sliding around the sides of the shaft as Todd gave out a low hum of pleasure, innerly delighting the Pokemon as she saw how she was pleasing him. Along with this, she could feel the tip of his manhood lightly kiss her puffy tail as she rocked her butt over his member, with Todd lost in the small pleasure Lopunny grinned as she placed her posterior on him, the top of his cock now just barely touching her tail, and with a laughing call of "Tickle, tickle." the female wiggled her hips so her tiny tail tickled left and right over his bare meatus, the sensation of which made even the horny human chuckle as the titillating stimulation was rather pleasant, even if quite different.

She stopped after a few seconds, letting herself wind down with him as she looked back down to the male sex organ wedged between her two cheeks, not looking as the weight of the bed shifted as Todd leaned up, making sure to take another nice hold of her behind as she just now realized something knew to mating.

"Todd? Can we...do it like this?" She referred to her position as she noticed just her close the two sexual organs were to touching, her question not just an ask of possibility but also an inquiry into whether they both could meld together when like this. As out of the ordinary it looked like to her, the idea of them doing it like this seemed...enticing. Not wrong, just...different, in an exciting sense.

"I think that would be best, yes." He agreed, not only intrigued by this position, but also thankful that wouldn't mean he had to be the one taking the lead, not wanting to ruin this beautiful moment with words of fear and awkwardness.

With him agreeing, slowly she slid her butt up, more than before and positioning herself over him, her wet slit was now being lightly prodded by his full erection as she let out a deep breathe, more than ready to give herself to this human.

"Just," his call interrupted her ready motion, "Tell me if I'm hurting you in any way. No matter what I won't allow you to get hurt." A small smile appeared as she looked behind her, just so she could get a good look where his hands, and turning away she shifted her hands around and over feeling for where his own were as she silently intertwined her fingers in his, pulling them up and placing them were her hips where, keeping them steady on her. "So long as you hold me, I can never get hurt. You could never do such a thing, I can assure you of that."

That did manage to calm the human, grasping his fingers on her hips as he made sure to hold her as Lopunny started anew, placing her opening above his shaft and slowly, she slid down.

She could sense the way her walls were expanding by his solid manhood, having it push its way past her insides far deeper than she would have imagined. By the time it was already halfway in she had to stop just to tense her body, making sure she not to hurt herself as she made room for him. On her hips she could feel the human stroke his fingers over her fur, gently letting her know he is there for her always, so with the assurance in mind she kept going, pushing as much of it in as she could, hoping she got enough of it inside her to please the human and slowly slid back up, all the way until only the tip of his member was left inside her hot cavern, before pushing back down.

Within moments she got herself into a steady rhythm of up and down, loving the intense feeling of sexual pleasure, despite how slow it was happening, it felt so right with each strain of her walls sucking him in. Todd held no argument on his side, the feeling of his erection being engulfed by her hot sweet spot, a sensation he largely would have believed he might never had tasted, until now, that is.

Lopunny had trouble holding herself back, her lust near demanding for more, for deeper quicker thrusting, for stronger pulls of her body, the resistance enhancing her experience. This demand was driving her crazy, almost yelling at her to do more, to go faster lest she has so little time. Todd was too lost to know about this, not her mind going against her but also how much unconsciously faster her jiggling had become, her butt now slapping it's cheeks on his lap as Lopunny began to pant with the revelry of the two's session, pushing herself so hard on him, her concentration moving away from the careful consideration she stuck too before and instead too how driven by her lust she was, almost slamming herself into with too much energy.

"Gah!" The sudden sharp cry awakened her from her fogged overly-fervored mind as she felt the male's fingers tensed and sprung off her hips, shaking heavily as the sudden thought of her hurting him appeared in her head. She looked back to see his face scrunched up in pain as he pushed out through his clenched teeth "Lopunny...I...I think your bending it..."

Immediately she pulled her rear up and let go of his hand, letting his male organ be sprung free as the male panted out in praise-able relish, now longer feeling her pushing down on him with too much of her enthusiasm. Only a second more of relaxation was given to him before she felt the force of a full-sized Lopunny instantly wrap her hands around him, quick words of "Sorry! Sorry! Sorry!" were carried alongside her affectionate nuzzling, as her understandable distress at being the one to cause pain, even though minor, did not bode well to her.

Either by certain circumstance of just plain luck it was grateful that the human she desired was highly understanding of the whole situation, able to quickly calm her down with soft pats and warm hugs of his.

She finally settled down after a few moments of rapid-fire apologies, resting herself over him until she was fully able to look him in the eyes again. With how close they were, he could see how clean her irises were, how bubblegum-coloured lenses matched her upbeat, cheerful attitude to a T, almost Ruby-looking with how crystal clear they were.

He let a wandering hand rub her cheek, hoping to remove any loose tears that may have fallen down her face as he remained staring directly in her optical organs. "Would you like to start again?" He question while he massaged her soft face. Lopunny nodded slowly in reply, but not leaving it silent as she made an issue of her own with "But I don't want to hurt you again. I won't allow-but I don't know what else to do instead. I want to please you fully, but how can I do it without hurting you?"

"Well...nobody said we had to do it from behind, did they?" A tilt of the Pokemon gave a visual clue into her mind getting a little lost by what she said. That didn't seem to make much sense to her; this was how Pokemon mated, on their knees and taken from the back, how else could they have-

But the male wasn't a Pokemon was he. He was a human, and humans could do things differently to Pokemon. However, the actual reality of this concept was not something she knew naturally. Ingrained in her mind was to be taken facing the same direction, no other could…

As they were already so close, Lopunny wondered if, upright like they were, could it be possible to mate as they were: face to face? This whole prospect started to sound much more superior to the Pokemon then regular behind-and-on-her knees sex; performing it this way sounded more lovely, as more could be done; they could hug, nuzzle...kiss.

She quickly made up her mind, and without a word the female used a soft hand to push the human away, slowly pressing him down on the bed as Todd held back on voices of resistance to let her do what she pleased, moving him down until his back hit the sheets, being leaned over by the female as she straddled him comfortably.

"Like...this way?" He could feel her hot breath as her nose almost touched his.

"This could work, yes." He replied in earnest, genuinely excited to see where this will lead.

"I promise to go slow this time, if you'd have me. I will make sure to not hurt you." He believed her completely. She smiled, right before leaning down and nuzzling her nose over his, grinning madly as she slowly leaned back up, taking a firm grasp of his manhood from behind, taking a short liking the feel of its shape in her hands, and aligned it over her own feminine area once again, preparing herself with thoughts of how she bent it before she careful dropped herself down, both letting out a _murr_ of pleasure at this reminiscent feeling of being connected in repeat as Lopunny slowly leaned her body back down over him, resting her hands by his sides with her arms straight while she wiggled her behind, getting that sensual feel for him inside her.

And she started to fuck him anew, and as she was careful not to move to strongly on him she less bounced on him and more rocked her hips back and forth, gingerly, but the sexual desire was still being fulfilled to them both. Moving slowly gave them time to simply just enjoy seeing one another, with Todd thinking of how much more nicer this position was than before. Sure, he can no longer see her cute tail or shapely rear, but now he could look directly into her beautiful eyes, something Lopunny noticed as he looked deep into her, not that she minded, more she leaned her head forward till the two were touching noses, keeping them there as she continued to ride him.

The push and pull of her walls urged her for more, even as she knew to take it slow, but she couldn't help but shake her hips as she moved over him, twisting them rapidly as her insides begged for more. It was only a moment of weakness, but Todd saw it all the same as he made her stop, making her pay attention to him as her hips stopped rocking.

"Go slow, Honey Bunny, you don't have to rush anything." She gave a cheesy grin in light embarrassment as she mentally chastised herself.

"I know, but shouldn't mating happen quickly? Be quick and done with?"

"For a Pokemon in the outside world, maybe?" She was born in the wild, Todd never forgot this, and for his guessing he figured it would make sense for wild mating to happen quickly, as they might not have the luxury of mating for long periods. "But for humans...or me at least, we don't have any high need to rush anything. We can take our time and go slow, indulging in want we want and enjoying every moment."

"Enjoy what we want?" The gears turned in her mind. "So...Like this?" She bent down and gave the human a quick peck on the lips, mostly certainly gladly received by him, as she smiled a knowing one. "Just like that."

"I think I'm starting to like human mating." She stated gleefully as she picked up rocking her hips on him. Like he said, she could indulge in what she liked, and one thing she wanted to do was pepper his entire face with her mouth, with how close she was she was easily able to slam her lovely lips all over his face, one after the other like a machine-gun as she kissed all over his lips, his nose, cheeks, forehead, and whatever she could place her lips on as the human under her laughed aloud with this cheeky torture.

Not to be outdone himself he found an opening and brought his own lips over to place on the sides of her neck, giving little licks over her fur which in turn made her moan, despite knowing how critical her neck was to survival, her instincts warning her how dangerous it was to have someone's mouth that close to her soft skin, the tiny lick of flame known as desire that flicked in the wind now burned with an intense heat as her body wished for more of this, this danger that was surrounded by the truth of it covered by the human she trusted deeply. Her body tightly tensed as he kissed over her neck, not able to stop herself from wrapping her arms around him and force her body on him, still swinging delicately back and forth on his shaft. Todd responded in kind by rub his hands over hers, around her back, with one hand boldly going over to rub her cheeks, feeling the muscles move underneath, pulsing as they stroked his own member with sexual longing.

She moaned through her closed mouth as she gave herself to lying like this, her lust satted already as she felt no need to move away from this position or do anything else, nestling her face over the human's neck as she kept herself clinging to him, loving the way his hands massaged him over, the way she was so close to him.

Hours could have passed by without her knowing as she never moved once from this position, the deep want for her to never move onto anything else kept her there even when her orgasm was slowly approaching, the deep pressure being awakened for the first time in her life gave rise for her to prepare. But even as she whispered it to him, telling the human she could feel something bubbling down below, she never rushed to let it happen, hearing his whispered reassurance it won't hurt, and that he too was feeling it himself she still continued her slow strokes on his manhood. Though there was still an edge of worry, fearing the unknown, as a hand of hers reached over to find his own, Todd letting their hands be intertwined as he spoke soft words to keep her calm, loving names of her being "My Honey Bunny." talks of how beautiful she is to him, how precious, important, loving, how much he wanted her to be by his side forever. She had to whisper some back, how drop dead handsome he was, how sexy, strong, husky of a male he was. And certainly not forgetting how she wanted to have _all_ his babies. Eleven, at least.

The moment her orgasm came her whole body tensed and quivered as this new, but incredibly pleasing situation washed all over, her mulls of pleasure sounded heavenly to the male as she cried them into his ear, keeping her still as he let her ride her orgasm out, knowing full well how terrifying her first experience may be.

Within a few silent moments she regained herself, doing nothing for a few minutes other than just relaxing in her humans arms as she relived the whole climax; the way she shook as it was released, the electrifying waves that passed all up and down her body, inside her love channel she could feel not only his manhood slowly lose its stiffness but also the human's own warm liquid that filled up her insides, when it happened on his side she never knew but she didn't feel she needed to, she wanted his seed.

"You feeling alright?" His question broke the silence as the Lopunny relaxed on him while her whole body went limp-and she absolutely made no attempt to rectify this, as she clenched out a "Murrr" of delight while she snuggled more deeply onto him. Seeing as he isn't likely to have any form of deep conversation anymore for tonight, the human reached over and pulled the blanket over them both, turning off the lamp, and cupping her rear he pulled her close to kiss her lovingly on the forehead, wishing his "Honey Bunny" a happy night as the two slept more soundly that they ever did alone.

* * *

It was a brilliant start to a brand new day; the sun was shining, the flying-types were singing and both were bathed in some warm glow that came about by what had transpired the night before, and the couple took a synchronized deep inhale of the open world, the sunlight shone on their faces as the were ready to start a new day together.

But while Todd was beginning to grab all the tools they will need, out of the corner of her eye the Lopunny spotted two small figures shuffling about down at the end of their garden. Taking a stronger glance she spotted two young Pachirisu down by the berry bushes trying to pilfer some of their produce, picking at the berries as they went and fill their tummies, but before she could make a move or call them out the two EleSquirrel Pokemon noticed her first, squealing with surprise as they quickly scampered off before getting caught, jumping high over the wall and disappearing into the foliage on the other side, gone as sudden as they already came.

All while this had happened, Lopunny never budged an inch, not for being lethargic but for rise over something that gave her thought. She now has a happy life ahead of her, with food, shelter, and, of course, not forgetting a rather lovely mate that is more than happy to satisfy her primal needs, even if the needs happen to come and appear every night so far…

But these Pachirisu did not have this luxury, and in complete truth, they probably were not the only ones. How many more Pokemon are and had been starving throughout her stay with him? How many were in need of food even now just to keep on surviving until the next day. She had it lucky, many others out here did not. And that sounded...unfair for her. They at least deserved a chance, surely, _she_ did.

"Todd." She braced herself as she walked up to the human. "Can I make a suggestion for something?"

"Of course." He beamed back in his usual optimistic attitude.

She paused for a second, letting her mind be cleared of obstruction before she continued on. "I've come to notice that I'm not the only Pokemon that has had a hard life trying to live in the wild. I know it might sound strange to say from me, probably because I was so focused on trying just to survive myself I never noticed the plight many others went through. But I now can see how much trouble many other Pokemon go through, how difficult many others have it, and I don't believe that's fair.

I know we can't just let them all live here, that is impossible, but I think I know of a way that can help them out, if you're willing to; can we...grow a plant a special garden, just for the wild Pokemon out here to enjoy."

Todd looked at her, blank face as his expression as Lopunny just waited for him to reply. "Will you be willing to help with the workload, do you job in getting it all prepared, grown and done. I don't want you to see you slacking off or not doing anything to help me."

"I won't be lazy, I promise! I'll do anything you tell me to, even if it's back-breaking work, I will do it all if I have to!" Her words came quick and loud, Lopunny pleading deeply as she almost begged for him to agree. She knew that this chance wasn't a sure-fire success, Todd's diet largely consisted of food he himself has grown, and with her tagging along there was less for him as well, so for him to spend a lot of his resources on making this garden seemed plausibly unlikely. She wouldn't blame him at all if he doesn't agree at all, not because of who he is but simply because he might not have enough to spare, and if he couldn't well...she wouldn't fight it. She knew how much of the garden meant to him, she could see that.

But what she couldn't see was how on board the farmer was to this whole project right from the start. It sounded genuinely altruistic in design, and perhaps looking back on it now, he had to come see how selfish he was with his garden back then; he always yelled and scared off any possible intruders trying to steal his goods, not out of malice but even then that wasn't an excuse for him to be so harsh. Perhaps it was now time to make amends.

And so with a single hand coming over to rub across the Pokemon's head the human spoke out a short, but completely meaningful words of "Sure, I'm game."

**Hope You Enjoyed!**


End file.
